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UNESCO literacy award for “Yo, sí puedo”
PARIS, June 19 — Cuba’s Latin
American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute (IPLAC)
has received the UNESCO 2006 Ray Sejong Literacy
Award for its promotion of a literacy campaign, the
institute reported.
Héctor Hernández Pardo, Cuba’s
ambassador to the UNESCO, stated that the prize is
an acknowledgement of a program specially created by
the Cuban education system for helping other
countries.
Hernández said that the IPLAC —
via its Department of Literacy and Education for
Youth and Adults — was selected by a prestigious
jury comprised of experts from the United States,
Ecuador, South Korea, the People’s Republic of
China, Senegal and Syria.
He added that Koichiro Matsuura,
director general of UNESCO, announced the 2006
education awards, and that it was an explicit
acknowledgement of Cuba’s “Yo, sí puedo” (Yes, I
can) literacy method, successfully implemented in 15
countries.
The jury emphasized that it is an
innovative, flexible method that can be adapted to a
variety of geographical, cultural and ethnic
situations, and that has proven its effectiveness in
both rural and urban social contexts and among
groups with special needs.
It was also noted that Cuban
educators have designed a complex model of
variables, indicators and assessment tools that
enable them to supervise and evaluate the impact of
the literacy campaign on the environment, families,
communities and individual development.
Hernández affirmed that the international award was
important to Cuban education, the creators of “Yo,
sí puedo,” Cuban solidarity in action with needy
peoples, and the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the
great driving force behind these programs to benefit
humanity.
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