The Cuban literacy method "Yo sí puedo" returns to Honduras, whose government presided by Xiomara Castro has set as a priority to reduce the illiteracy rate which, according to the authorities, is between 14 and 17%.
By María Josefina Arce
The Cuban literacy method "Yo sí puedo" returns to Honduras, whose government presided by Xiomara Castro has set as a priority to reduce the illiteracy rate which, according to the authorities, is between 14 and 17%.
There is a risk that more Hondurans will join this army of illiterates, since years of neglect of education have been compounded by the COVID 19 pandemic, which has left two million students out of the system.
According to surveys, women are the most affected by this scourge, and rural areas have the highest percentage of illiterates.
Marisela Figueroa, Vice-Minister of Technical Pedagogical Affairs of the Ministry of Education, pointed out that the help of Cuban pedagogues, whom she described as the best in Latin America in adult education, will be essential.
The implementation of the program will be advised by 123 Cuban teachers, most of them Masters and Doctors in Pedagogy, who will soon arrive in the Central American country.
The specialists from the largest of the Antilles will share their techniques with their Honduran colleagues, who in turn will implement the National Strategy for the Reduction of Illiteracy.
"Yo sí puedo" was already implemented in Honduras from 2006 to 2009, during the mandate of then President Manuel Zelaya, and succeeded in reducing the illiteracy rate to around 6%.
But the June 2009 coup d'état against Zelaya, who was elected at the polls, meant a setback in many areas, including education. Cuban collaborators withdrew in the face of false accusations and attacks by the coup perpetrators.
For more than a decade, the progress made in this area was lost. Now the government of Xiomara Castro is once again putting the education of Hondurans in first place.
The Cuban literacy method "Yo sí puedo" (Yes, I can) has been described as economical and highly effective by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Its implementation in nations of various latitudes has made it possible to teach some 10 million people to read and write, a contribution of Cuba to the world's efforts to eliminate illiteracy, a problem still a problem in today's world.
