Fidel Castro spearheaded a successful literacy program

Prior to Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, there were significant socio-economic disparities between Cubans living in rural communities versus those living in urban communities. Illiteracy was widespread, with twenty-three percent of students nationwide not knowing how to read or write. In rural areas, the illiteracy rate was estimated to be forty-one percent. Twelve percent of children between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old were enrolled in and actively attended secondary school. ^[1] Wealthy Cubans sent their children to expensive and highly elite private schools, while low-income families sent their children to public schools that provided a significantly lower standard of education. This inequality allowed Castro to make education reform a tenet of his manifesto. Fidel Castro announced his campaign to “combat ignorance and illiteracy on his island” to the General Assembly of the United Nations” ^[1] in 1960, which targeted Cubans who were economically and socially disadvantaged. In less than a year, the illiteracy rate dropped to less than four percent and Cuba was declared “a territory free of illiteracy.” ^[1] Castro’s literacy program also helped to establish a culture of learning where there previously was none, in which young people in Cuba could see the importance and the value of an education. Castro’s literacy program was unique because the facilitators and volunteers who spearheaded the project shared “equally in the daily work of the rural home… the volunteers promoted solidarity through shared labor, and this enabled the workers to develop the motivation and trust necessary for historically marginalized students to learn to read and write what was personally relevant and important to them.” ^[1] It provided “an inter-culturally recognizable form of literacy that does not ignore local literacy practice and is contextualized and adapted easily to local circumstances and realities,” ^[1] and as a result, was very successful. Literacy eventually became associated with empowerment, and education was suddenly a pathway to both personal and national emancipation. “The campaign empowered young people to believe that they could change the world. It broke down barriers between the cities and countryside and contributed to the unity and solidarity of the revolution itself.” ^[2] Castro’s legacy is evident in modern Cuba, where “education remains completely free – from pre-school to post-graduate study. Around 13 per cent of the GDP is spent on education. By contrast the UK and the US spend a mere 5.6 per cent.” ^[3]

[P1] There were severe class disparities on the island of Cuba in regards to education prior to when Fidel Castro came to power. [P2] Fidel Castro spearheaded a nationwide literacy program that taught children in low-income, rural areas how to read and write. [P3] The literacy program also helped to establish a culture of learning, in which children were being taught to read and write within a context that was personally relevant to their lives and living situations. [P4] Literacy was viewed as a pathway to emancipation and personal freedom, and education is now highly valued on the island of Cuba even today.