NICARAGUA: Literacy Goal Met – Further Education Planned

NICARAGUA: Literacy Goal Met – Further Education Planned
By José Adán Silva

MANAGUA, Aug 27 (IPS) - After an intense two-year literacy campaign, Nicaragua has managed to reduce the number of people who cannot read and write to below four percent of the adult population, from nearly 21 percent.

The challenge that the government now plans to take on is expanding educational coverage to hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers who are outside of the school system, and providing continued education to the newly literate adults.

Education Ministry statistics show that the illiteracy rate has plunged after the national literacy campaign, called "From Martí to Fidel", which used the Cuban method "Yes, I Can!"

It consists of 65 daily half-hour lessons, with a teacher, the use of a television and a video recorder, a primer and a pencil. Students pass the course when they can write a letter to their relatives or teachers.

The approach is used with people over 15, and can teach reading and writing in 12 weeks. The campaign was formally launched on Jul. 1, 2007, and the results were announced on Aug. 22.

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