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LITTLE ROCK—A program aimed at providing Mexican immigrants and others a chance to improve their English-language skills and earn the equivalent of high school diplomas may return to Arkansas.

The Mexican government, along with officials from Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma, began a three-day meeting Tuesday at the state Capitol about the Plaza Comunitaria program. The program, free to participants, offers immigrants access to Web sites and instructional videos to obtain Mexican diplomas for elementary and middle school educations.

For a fee, immigrants also can earn the equivalent of a Mexican high school diploma, said Patricia Ramos Mendez, director of international affairs for Mexico’s National Institute for Adult Education. Ramos said those taking the electronic courses also can study for the General Educational Development exam to earn the equivalent of a U.S. high school education.

“It is not just about getting a primary or secondary education, it’s about the transition of learning a second language. They learn to speak and write English,” Ramos said. “It allows them to begin to live in a participatory way in the United States.”

As of now, there are 380 of the locations in 35 states where the program operate, with more than 20,800 students registered to take the classes, Ramos said. But in Arkansas, now home to more than 150,000 Hispanics, there isn’t a way for immigrants and others to take part.

The program once operated in Rogers, a town in the center of Arkansas’ rapidly growing Hispanic community. However, officials said the church operating a computer for the classes couldn’t handle a recent upgrade.

The three-day meeting will allow those attending to begin offering the courses if they choose to take part.

The courses offer science, history and other lessons for those taking part. The math portion also focuses on skills an immigrant would be able to apply to their trade, whether that be in farm fields or on a factory line, Ramos said.

“Many of the principles are the same, the only difference is in how you apply it,” she said.

The conference took place in one of the meeting rooms typically reserved for state House committee meetings. A list of reserved rooms at the Capitol showed it being held under the name of Andre Guerrero, the name of an employee at the Arkansas Department of Education.

Educating and providing services to immigrants continues to be a point of contention by some lawmakers. A ballot measure before the attorney general’s office would make those older than 13 seeking state services sign an oath swearing they lived legally in the country.

State Rep. Rick Green, a critic of illegal immigration, said he had not heard about the meeting, but acknowledged laws required all children living within the state receive an education. Studies have concluded about half of the state’s immigrant population lives in the country illegally.

“I may have personal issue with it, but I think what the department is doing is well within the law,” said Green, R-Van Buren.