HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 4. Almost 240,000 Paraguayans will learn to read and write with the implementation in that South American country of the Cuban literacy method ‘Yo si puedo’ (Yes, I Can) beginning on April 15.

Prensa Latina news agency reports that this decision follows on an agreement signed between the Paraguayan Minister of Education and Culture, Luis Alberto Riart, and Rolando Gomez, the Cuban ambassador to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay.

The implementation of the program will begin in the departments of Itapua, Misiones and in Asuncion.

The general director of Permanent Education in Paraguay, Maria de la Paz Bareiro, told Prensa Latina that thanks to this literacy method nearly 30,000 people will have learned to read and write by the end of 2011.

Riart commented that this initiative is part of Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo’s ongoing efforts to declare this South American nation free from illiteracy by the year 2013. He added that the readers and primers to be used are in Spanish and Guarani, the Paraguayan official languages.

The Cuban ambassador ratified Cuba’s willingness to continue helping Paraguay eradicate illiteracy.

Several international organizations have recognized the effectiveness of the Cuban literacy method, which has been implemented in more than 34 countries and received UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2006. (acn)