A happy note from Aporrea:
Translation mine.So, look who’s now in the same league as Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia. Damn commies! Haha.On Tuesday, on International Literacy Day, UNESCO declared Ecuador to be free of illiteracy. The minister of education, Raúl Vallejo, represented President Correa, who was unable to attend because the date coincided with the funeral of his chief of security, who died of the AH1N1 flu. The official proclamation took place in the city of Manta, in Manabí province, according to Prensa Latina.Vallejo made the official declaration in front of 15,000 persons in Jocay Stadium. He also set a goal of 420,000 literate persons with at least ten grades of basic general education.Hundreds of students from various provinces performed colorful dances, accompanied by a giant human chalkboard, percussion bands and musical groups, in a five-hour celebration broadcast on radio and television throughout the country.Vallejo recognized the work of 160,000 high-school students in their graduating year, who offered their aid as volunteer teachers in various parts of the country.Vallejo pointed out that the conclusion of this first step took place just a few days after the second anniversary of August 14, 2007, when president Rafael Correa set the goal of reducing the illiteracy rate from what it was that day, 9.3% of Ecuadorians over the age of 15.The program began days later in Monjas, Chimborazo province, and illiteracy dropped by 7 percentage points, to just 2.7% of the adult population.According to UNESCO, a country can be declared free of illiteracy when the illiterate portion of the population is no greater than 3.9%.The literacy campaign in Ecuador consisted of five sub-programs: Manuela Sáenz, directed at the mestizo population; Dolores Cacuango, for indigenous and peasant communities; Voluntad, for prison inmates; Cordón Fronterizo, for people in the border regions; and Capacidades Diferentes, for the disabled.
