An Adult Literacy Program Developed in Cuba is Now Being Used in More Than 30 Countries :: via Quartz

An adult literacy program developed in Cuba is now being used in more than 30 countries

Quartz: 3.30.2017 by Neha Thirani Bagri

A literacy program developed in Cuba is quietly spreading adult education in more than 30 countries.

This week, it was reported that the program—known as “Yo, sí puedo” or “Yes, I can”—is being used by Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers’ Movement to educate 7,000 adults in the state of Maranhão. It has been used to educate Aboriginal communities in remote rural areas and has perhaps been most successful in Venezuela, where it was adopted in 2003. Just two years later, UNESCO declared the country illiteracy free.

The program was developed and promoted by the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institute of Cuba, which now says over 10 million people from Venezuela to Nigeria have now learned to read and write through the program. “Yo, sí puedo” aims to provide free education to adults who did not have the opportunity to attend school as children.

In 2006, the institute was awarded the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for its work in advancing “individual and social potential through innovative teaching methods” globally. The program is uniquely effective because it uses pre-recorded video lessons, adapted for each country, that are delivered by a local facilitator.  READ MORE @

Yo Sí Puedo

Latino Alliance for Literacy Advancement de New Mexico

LALA de New Mexico takes inspiration from the UNESCO award-winning “Yo Sí Puedo” adult literacy program, which has taught more than 6 million people to read and is currently in use in more than 30 nations.

LALA is proud to be the first United States literacy organization to utilize this incredible, effective and innovative program.

“Yo Sí Puedo” means “Sure I Can” in Spanish. The “Yo Sí Puedo” program was developed by educator Leonela Relys of the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogical Institue (IPLAC) in Havana, Cuba, and is in use in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Jamaica, Argentina, Uruguay and more. Astoundingly, the program was used in Venezuela to make 1 million people literate in just 5 months.

The “Yo Sí Puedo” program was created in 2001, to aid Cuban educators who were sent to Haiti to teach literacy and numeracy to impoverished adults living in third-world conditions. The program is intense and quick – anywhere from four weeks to three-months  – and is designed to foster a strong sense of self-worth along with literacy and numeracy skills in a highly flexible and culturally appropriate setting.

“Yo Sí Puedo” uses 17 videos, containing 65 classes, and a manual, with guidance provided by a highly-trained and, in our case, paid facilitators. The program is effective in large part because of its flexibility; it was designed to be highly adaptable to different languages, cultures and social realities.