DILI, 16 july 2021 (TATOLI)- Third Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba as the Embassy’s Representative, José Ernesto Díaz Pérez said that the Embassy will continue the national literacy program with the theme ‘Yo sí puedo’ or ‘Yes I Can’ which ended in 2013.
“We are ready to continue the program because previously it has helped 90% of the population of Timor-Leste since it was founded in 2008 and ended in 2013,” said Perez to TATOLI News Agency in the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Farol, on thursday.
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He added that this program not only helps the participants to be able to read and write but also provides the ability for the participants to apply the knowledge.
To date, there have been 20 versions of the ‘Yo sí puedo’ program in nine languages. From the resulting versions, 11 in Spanish, one in English, two in Portuguese, one in Quechua, one in Aymara, one in Guaraní, one in Creole, one in Tetum, and one in Swahili.
Before on 31 july 2019, the implementation of the Yo, si quiero literacy program has helped more than ten million people become k-illiterate in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain (Seville) , Granada, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Uruguay and Venezuela, establishing 275 classes and 803.000 participants.
UNESCO, along with other international organizations, have recognized Cuba’s altruistic work for the implementation and effectiveness of the ‘Yo sí puedo’ literacy program.
Previously, the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste, Francisco Guterres ‘Lu Olo’ on the Ambassador inauguration ceremony held some time ago, asked Ambassador Eusébio Corsino to continue cooperation with the government of the Republic of Cuba in order to implement the program to eradicate illiteracy in the TL.
“I also take this opportunity to draw the attention of everyone, and in particular the Government of Timor-Leste and Ambassador Eusebio Corsino, to a situation which I consider to be very worrying.
According to the 2015 census results, around 253.000 of our colleagues over the age of 15 were identified as illiterate or have low literacy levels.
Although there have been no other post-2015 surveys,” the President explained in his speech.
He continued, “We all know that many adults today, formerly children or teenagers, never attended school or dropped out of school in their early years, so the total number of illiterate or illiterate people is higher than six years ago.”
If this situation continues, TL risks having a working age population with very low levels of education with negative impacts on education in the family and on economic activities and social development.
TL needs well-educated adults for a more effective contribution to economic productivity and greater social progress and better participation in democratic life at the community and national levels.
“Therefore I would like to appeal to the Governments of Timor-Leste and Cuba to jointly tackle the possibility of a second national literacy campaign as soon as possible. Based on the success of the Cuban method in other countries, namely in Brazil, Angola, Nicaragua, Venezuela and also in Australia with aboriginal communities, I would like to believe that the second literacy campaign, at the national level, under the motto ‘Yo sí puedo’, was immediately followed by “ Yes, I can follow”, in the next ten years, can contribute to the rapid eradication of illiteracy in our country, as long as there is serious commitment and political will from the Government of Timor-Leste,” said President Francisco.
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Journalist : Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafy Belo
