Argentine Governor Meets with Cuban Foreign Minister
Havana, June 8, 2006. (RHC) The Governor of the Argentine province of Santa Fe, Jorge Alberto Obeid, met in Havana with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to speak about cooperation between the two nations.
The Santa Fe governor spoke about the success of the Cuban literacy program Yo si puedo (Yes, I can) in three departments of Santa Fe where some 1,000 have already learned to read and write using the program.
He said that by the end of 2007 more than 15,000 are expected to graduate from the literacy program province-wide, enabling it to be declared a illiteracy-free territory.
Cuba has put this homemade program at the service of humanity. Over a short period of time, more than 1 million people in 15 countries have learned how to read and write using the program.
Santa Fe is considered the second most important province in Argentina, contributing 10 percent of the GDP. The province has 3 million inhabitants and is divided into 19 departments.
Despite this, there exists drastically different levels of socio-economic development. The areas most affected by illiteracy are the most inhospitable and underdeveloped areas where literacy reaches up to 15 percent of the population. It is precisely in these areas where the Cuban program first got underway less than a year ago, changing the traditional teaching model by taking the teacher to the student.
During his stay on the island, the Governor of Santa Fe met with Cuban Education Minister Ignacio Gomez and participated in the inauguration on Tuesday of the International Seminar on Literacy Policies and Programs underway at Havana's Convention Center.