Languages, Part 8
Yo Si Puedo
web site for Argentina
Alfabetización
“Un Programa Cubano para poner Fin al Analfabetismo en el Mundo”
“Yo si puedo” (Yes, I can) is an international programme for
the eradication of illiteracy, dating from March, 2001.
It was quite difficult to find more the information given
below, on the Internet. What we can understand from it is that this is an
extremely successful programme, based on a standard methodology, of which we
unfortunately have no samples, as yet. We would like to have some pages from
the manuals of the “Yo si puedo” programme.
What we would like to know about this programme, for the
purposes of our course on languages, is first, how the vernacular languages
(e.g. Aymara and Quechua) are protected within this literacy programme, in
relation to the colonial language (e.g., in that case, Spanish).
Second, we would like to know how the question of cultural
content of languages is handled in the “Yo si puedo” method, and related to
this, whether there is any political content, whether intentional or de facto.
[This Cuban, communistic anti-illiteracy campaign’ slogan
“Yo si puedo” is what Barack Obama ripped off for his election campaign (“Yes,
we can”).]
Cuban literacy
method benefits almost six million people around the world
Almost six million people in 28 countries all over the world
have learned to read and write thanks to the Cuban literacy method ‘Yo si
puedo’ (Yes, I Can).
According to Enia Rosa Torres, an advisor to the Cuban
Minister of Education, 5.8 million people have already learned to read and
write using the ‘Yo si puedo’ method, while 723,900 others have benefited from
a similar Cuban methodology called ‘Yo si puedo seguir’ (Yes, I Can Continue),
which guarantees elementary instruction.
During a press conference in Havana on Wednesday, Torres
said that there are currently more than 2,200 Cuban education specialists
making a contribution in 28 countries, with priority given to the member
nations of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA).
The official noted that, thanks to the efforts of the Cuban
professionals and the methodology, Venezuela, in 2002; Bolivia, in 2009; and
Nicaragua, in 2011, were declared territories free from illiteracy.
The Cuban ‘Yo si puedo’ method — which received two honorary
mentions from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in 2002 and 2003 — has 14 versions, eight of them in Spanish,
one in English, another one in Portuguese, and one in Creole for Haiti. There
are also versions in Aymara and Quechua for Bolivia, and in Tetum, for East
Timor. – (ACN)
Yo Si Puedo
Alphabetization program, Bolivia
Héctor Mediavilla
The Cuban literacy program “YO SI PUEDO” (Yes I can),
approved by the UNESCO, has been successfully implemented in 20 countries all
over the world. Bolivian Ministry of Education has the goal of eradicating
illiteracy, that affects around 20% of the population, in the next 4 years.
This innovative method consists on TV lessons for a group of around 20 people
where a 25” TV set, a VHS video recorder and a pack of 65 VHS tape lessons are
required. The group is leaded by a competent member of the community during 3
months to complete the Basic literacy course. YO SI PUEDO program was
officially opened in March 2006. There are around 12.000 literacy points spread
all over the country. Courses have been recorded in Spanish and in native
languages such as Quechua and Aymara.
Yo sí Puedo, a
Cuban literacy program
In the process of researching the above, we discovered a
Cuban Spanish-Language equivalent of Wikipedia, at:
·
To
download any of the CU courses in PDF files please click here.
