The Honduran government recognised the value of the Cuban teaching method «Yo sí Puedo» (Yes I Can), which in less than two years has taught 14,215 nationals in the department of La Paz to read and write, Cubaminrex published today.

According to the website of the Caribbean island’s foreign ministry, the day before, the head of the Ministry of Education, Daniel Esponda, recognised the Cuban experience with this teaching method, and highlighted its value in making more than 10 million people in 28 countries literate.

He also thanked Cuba for its support and the advice of Cuban collaborators in ensuring that, in less than two years, more than 14,215 people learned to read and write in the department of La Paz, the first to eradicate illiteracy in the Central American nation.

The ceremony for this declaration, presided over by the presidential appointee Renato Florentino Pineda, was also attended by the Vice-President of the National Congress, Edgardo Casañas.

On the Cuban side, the Cuban Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires a.i. in Honduras, Noel Álvarez Pérez, and the head of the Cuban educational brigade, Rolando Rodríguez, attended the event, according to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex).

In his speech, presidential appointee Renato Florentino stressed that «this achievement has not been possible without the invaluable collaboration of the Cuban Revolution and its supportive people», and praised Cuba’s foreign policy of solidarity.

«Through «Yo sí Puedo», (the island) seeks to share with the world the achievements of Cuban experience and technique, said the representative of President Xiomara Castro.

At the ceremony, the flags declaring the municipalities of Santiago de Puringla and La Paz as illiteracy-free territories were handed over, making the department official as the first of the 18 in Honduras to achieve this important goal.

The ceremony also recognised several collaborators and literacy students who stood out during the implementation of the national literacy programme José Manuel Flores Arguijo, developed in Honduras under the Cuban teaching method «Yo Sí Puedo» (Yes I Can).

More than 209,000 Hondurans have become literate thanks to the joint work of the Ministry of Education and the Cuban collaborators working in the Yo Sí Puedo programme, revealed Honduran education authorities.