Panama City, August 12 (RHC) -— The Panamanian government has resumed a national literacy program to lower current illiteracy levels estimated at 5.5 percent down to 3.0 percent in five years, an effort that will count on Cuban assistance.

Panamanian Social Development Minister Alcibiades Vasquez told reporters in Panama City that the 2007 literacy program was resumed with the participation of Cuban specialists, who are already in the country.

At present, there are over 192,000 illiterate Panamanians, particularly in indigenous areas in the provinces of Veraguas and Chiriqui, in central and western Panama, which represents 5.5 percent of the total population, said national literacy director Rufino Huertas.

The Panamanian literacy program known as “Move Throughout Panama,” launched in 2007 as a government-led initiative to fight poverty, is similar to the Cuban program “Yes, I Can,” which was launched by the Cuban government.