At 78, Arturo Bello Returns to School to Learn to Read and Write

Arturo Bello, 78, has returned to school to learn to read and write at Instituto Fermín Vivaceta in Lo Barnechea, Santiago, studying alongside 14 classmates over the age of 39. Bello left school at 12 to work and said his ability to read and write had been limited to signing his name.

After four months of classes, Bello is earning high grades and approaching his studies with enthusiasm. The course brings together adults whose earlier education was interrupted for different reasons. Many were unable to attend school in their youth because of family situations or poverty, according to the research material.

Many of Bello’s classmates are domestic workers. Their experience in the classroom has been described as a personal transformation, with education giving them greater self-esteem and autonomy. The classes also provide practical tools and open emotional and social opportunities in their lives.

Bello’s return to education has inspired other adults to enrol and has earned recognition in the community, according to the supplied account. He is now preparing eagerly for his classes, continuing a process he had long felt the need to begin.

It changes your life.

The Instituto Fermín Vivaceta class illustrates the varied paths that adults can take back into formal education. For Bello, the decision came after a lifetime without formal schooling and decades after leaving school for work. At 78, he is now progressing through lessons with classmates who also came to education later in life.