Havana, December  22 (RHC)-- President Miguel Díaz-Canel congratulated Cuban educators on the occasion of their national day, which commemorates the official proclamation of the island as a territory free of illiteracy.

In his official Twitter account, the President expressed his congratulations and gratitude to those who "dedicate their time to the noble task of teaching and educating, of preparing the newest for life.

In another tweet, he emphasized that literacy was "the most beautiful and noble mission assumed by Cuban youth."

"Sixty years ago, on December 22, we were a freer people because we were a more educated people," the head of state wrote.

The campaign to teach people to read and write is considered an epic of the nascent Revolution and popular participation.

It was the prelude to the transformations by which Cuba was populated with schools, institutes, polytechnics, centers for special education, sports, pedagogical, and universities.

Those involved in the literacy campaign exceeded 300,000 people.

The illiteracy rate was reduced to 3.9 percent of the total population, declared illiterate for various reasons, including some 25,000 Haitian residents who did not master the Spanish language.

On December 20, 1961, the campaign officially ended. In one year, irt benefited 707,000 people and placed Cuba among the countries with the lowest illiteracy rate in the world.