More than 10 million people in 30 countries have learned to read and write using the Cuban method I canwhich today extends to Honduras with the arrival of a group of educational advisers.
The collaborative project continues a similar program launched in 2006, when the country was on the verge of eradicating illiteracy, but failed in the coup against then-President Manuel Zelaya, and today the illiteracy rate exceeds 11 percent of the total population.
THE METHOD
Developed between 2001 and 2002 at the suggestion of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and the researcher Leonela Relys, Yo, sí puedo is a composite teaching method that uses numbers to facilitate the learning process of reading and writing through the Assignment of numbers to letters.
The pedagogical proposal combines classroom teaching with audiovisual means and the coordination of a facilitator, guaranteeing a transformative social projection of the students. There are versions in other languages besides Spanish and even the Braille system for the blind.
According to several sources, the application of the Cuban system would allow large groups of illiterate people to become literate in just seven weeks, who would have the opportunity to further advance their education through the extension of the method called Yes I can Continue.
Experts point out the low economic cost of implementation, the possibility of adapting it to the specific needs and identity of each student or community, and the necessary involvement of the various social actors in transforming the reality of those who learn to read and write, as advantages.
GLOBAL IMPACT
Beyond its theoretical contributions, the method, which became a solidarity program, allowed the development of a cultural revolution in several developing countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia, eliminating illiteracy with its application.
There is evidence of its application in contexts as diverse as Australian, Venezuelan and Brazilian Aboriginal communities in urban areas of Spain and New Zealand.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) awarded him the King Sejong Literacy Prize in 2006, recognizing that it was a new type of teaching model that was much more inclusive and humanistic.