Paris, France.- The Cuban permanent delegation to Unesco today joined the celebration, for the first time, of International Education Day with satisfaction and enthusiasm, according to a communiqué circulated here.

According to the statement, for Havana the recognition of this International Day constitutes ‘a highly significant and valuable matter in the world we live in, where education represents one of the crucial vehicles for achieving much more equitable and just societies.’

Education is vital, the communiqué added, to ‘contribute to the full development of the human being, face the great challenges of humanity and the planet, build peace and move forward with solid steps towards the goals we have set with the Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

The delegation recalled that since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, education has been one of the main lines of development in the country.

In the midst of a highly complex political and economic scenario, the National Literacy Campaign took place in 1961 with the participation of more than 250,000 volunteers, who took on the task of making one million people literate in one year.

Since then, ‘efforts to continue developing and raising the educational levels of the Cuban population have not stopped. The budget invested in education by the Cuban State has been consistently among the highest in the world,’ noted the statement, and indicated that this year the nation will invest 51 percent of its budget in public health and education.

On the other hand, the contribution of Cuba to the education of other nations in different continents was also highlighted, which constitutes ‘an inalienable practice, already established as a value and an ethical and solidarity principle of the Cuban people’.

In this regard, the document mentioned the example of the literacy program ‘Yo sí puedo’, carried out since 2001, which has contributed to teaching five million people in 28 countries around the world how to read and write.