300,000
Ecuadorans become literate through Cuban program
MORE than 300,000 Ecuadorans learned
to read and write in 13 of the country’s provinces
through the "Yo si puedo" program, coordinated by a
contingent of 54 Cuban teachers who completed their
work in Ecuador with the recognition of authorities,
national teachers and facilitators.
A moving event at the Ecuadoran
Ministry of Education brought together hundreds of
people who, since 2011, have been participating in
this effort to reduce illiteracy from 6.5% to 3.5%
of the population aged over 14 years in the poorest
provinces.
Education Minister Augusto Espinosa;
Basilio A. Gutiérrez, business attaché at the Cuban
embassy; Rusena Maribel Santamaría, Bolivian
ambassador in Ecuador; Assembly member Ximena Ponce;
and other authorities, took part in the closing
event for this stage.
Espinosa thanked the Cuban
contingent of educators for their work and
emphasized the will of the Citizens’ Revolution to
eradicate illiteracy in the country.
Speaking on behalf of the Cuban
Ministry of Education and the Cuban embassy in
Ecuador, Gutiérrez congratulated planners, educators
and participants in the Basic Education for Youth
and Adults program for the goals achieved, and urged
them to continue on to higher levels of learning.
Jorge Tamayo, the Cuban academic who
coordinated the implementation of the "Yo si puedo"
program, highlighted the effort made, the empathy
between his country’s educators and Ecuadorans, and
the commitment to continue supporting them in the
total elimination of illiteracy (PL)
