Cuba Wins UNESCO Literacy Prize

This program, at work in countries like Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia, has tought over 2 million to read and write for the first time. It's basically an easily transferrable video tape program as I understand. Cuba protested earlier that the UN did not even include the Cuban program on their list of worldwide literacy programs. This recognition assures additional funding and support for it. There remains more than 750 million illiterates in the world in 2006.

Havana, Nov 3 (Prensa Latina) Cuba s project "Yes, I Can" will be awarded the 2006 UNESCO Literacy Prize Friday in Paris, France, its general director Koichiro Matsuura announced.

The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, the highest recognition for worldwide teaching, will be granted to the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute in Havana, where the valuable project was conceived.

The three-year-old method has been successfully applied in over 15 countries from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, benefiting nearly two million people.

With the award, a prestigious jury of experts from the US, Ecuador, South Korea, China, Senegal, and Syria are recognizing the impact of the Cuban educational system by providing free assistance to other countries.

The experts highlighted the Cuban teaching method is innovative, flexible and can be effectively adapted to diverse geographic, cultural, and ethnic situations.

The King Sejong Prize has been awarded to outstanding institutions and personalities since 1990.