Brazil and Cuba sign literacy agreement
Campaign News | Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Thousands will benefit in poorest areas of Brazil
Brasilia, Nov 11 (Prensa Latina) Brazil and Cuba signed an agreement aimed at putting into practice the Cuban Literacy Program "Yo si puedo," successfully developed in many countries, the Cuban embassy reported Thursday.
The accord, signed by Brazil?s Education Minister, Tarso Genro and Cuba?s Luis Ignacio Gomez, predict the beginning of a cooperation project between both ministries to teach young people and adults how to write and read in the state of Piaui, with the worst educational rates in Brazil.
With this pact, there is a materialization of the protocol of intentions signed between the two countries in September 2003, during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva?s visit to Havana.
According to Gomez, the Cuban method is used in five Latin American nations, and it is in an experimental stage in other three, Haiti used it in Creole language and there are versions in English, French and Portuguese.
In Venezuela, some 1,350,000 people have learned how to read and write in less than one year with this pedagogical program, and 61 percent of them are still studying to reach sixth grade.
