query: What is the literacy rate in Cuba?

title: Education in Cuba

text: 97% of Cubans ages 15–24 were literate. Literacy provided poor uneducated Cubans a better standing in the country and the world. Education was vital to the new government. The leaders believed that for Cuba to be strong and for citizens to be active participants in society, they must be educated. Private universities were nationalised by force, along with private schools, in 1961. The Cuban Revolution in 1959 brought lots of changes to the country, especially for women. Before the Revolution many women lived as housewives and for those who needed to work there were very few choices. Many women in

title: Education in Cuba

text: one of the oldest in the American continent. In 1900 Cuba had a literacy rate of 36.1% to 42% depending on the source, one of the highest among developing countries. By the early 1900s Cuba had a strong education system, but it was only attended by half of the country’s children. Schools were not accessible to the poorest Cubans and this resulted in a low literacy rate for rural areas compared to the cities. Before 1959, of the Cubans over the age of 15 years, 22% were found to be illiterate and 60% of the country was found to be

title: Cuban Literacy Campaign

text: the success of the campaign in 1964, are kept with photographs and details of all 100,000 volunteers in a museum in La Ciudad Libertad (City of Liberty), which is in Fulgencio Batista's vast former headquarters in the western suburbs of Havana. Cuban Literacy Campaign The Cuban Literacy Campaign (Spanish: "Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización en Cuba") was a year-long effort to abolish illiteracy in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. It began on January 1 and ended on December 22, 1961, becoming the world's most ambitious and organized literacy campaign. Before 1959 the official literacy rate for Cuba was between 60% and

title: Cuban Literacy Campaign

text: Cuban Literacy Campaign The Cuban Literacy Campaign (Spanish: "Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización en Cuba") was a year-long effort to abolish illiteracy in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. It began on January 1 and ended on December 22, 1961, becoming the world's most ambitious and organized literacy campaign. Before 1959 the official literacy rate for Cuba was between 60% and 76%, largely because of lack of education access in rural areas and a lack of instructors. As a result, the Cuban government of Fidel Castro at Che Guevara's behest dubbed 1961 the "year of education" and sent "literacy brigades" out into

title: Literacy in India

text: Literacy in India Literacy in India is a key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate has grown to 74% (2011 Census figure), with recent reports of 80% literacy approaching the world average rate of 84%. The literacy rate at the end of British rule in 1947 was around 12%. Despite government programmes, India's literacy rate increased only "sluggishly". The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. An old 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at

title: Literacy in India

text: then-current rate of progress. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 80.9% for men and 64.60% for women. The low female literacy rate has had a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabillisation efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence. The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male

title: Racism in Cuba

text: much vaster region of what is now Brazil. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1886, on a Royal Order by Regent Queen María Cristina of Spain. According to a study by Marc Q. Sawyer, a scholar of political science and African-American studies, "great progress was made in race relations during the early years of the [socialist] revolution" in Cuba. Reforms such as "extending assistance, services and literacy to the poor", lowering of rents and land reform was beneficial to blacks, since a disproportionate number of them were poor. Besides, pressure was put on labor unions to admit black members, and

title: Literacy in India

text: same period, the population grew from 361 million to 1,210 million. India's literacy rate is at 74.04%. Tripura has achieved a literacy rate of 94.65%. Chattisgarh is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 60.82%. Several other social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates, such as life expectancy at birth (71.61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala, 65.66 for males and 64.79 for females in Chattisgarh), infant mortality per 1,000 live births (10 in Kerala, 61 in Bihar), birth rate per 1,000 people (16.9 in Kerala, 30.9 in Chattisgarh) and death

title: Literacy in India

text: literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.According to the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in 2015-16, Jains form the wealthiest community in India. Jains have the highest literacy rate (87%) in India, in the 7-years to oldest age group, according to its 2011 census. The Jain community also has the highest number of college graduates. The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighbouring countries in 2015. Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while the youth literacy

title: Literacy

text: Faso has a very low literacy rate of 28.7%. The government defines literacy as anyone at least 15 years of age and up who can read and write. To improve the literacy rate, the government has received at least 80 volunteer teachers. A severe lack of primary school teachers causes problems for any attempt to improve the literacy rate and school enrollment. Egypt has a relatively high literacy rate. The adult literacy rate in 2010 was estimated at 72%. Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 15 and free for all children to attend. 93% of children enter primary school

title: Cuba

text: revolution, Cuba was one of the most advanced and successful countries in Latin America. Cuba's capital, Havana, was a "glittering and dynamic city". The country's economy in the early part of the century, fuelled by the sale of sugar to the United States, had grown wealthy. Cuba ranked 5th in the hemisphere in per capita income, 3rd in life expectancy, 2nd in per capita ownership of automobiles and telephones, and 1st in the number of television sets per inhabitant. Cuba's literacy rate, 76%, was the fourth highest in Latin America. Cuba also ranked 11th in the world in the number

title: Literacy

text: tuition after school and at weekends to cope with the highly competitive public school system where admission to prestigious public colleges (secondary) and most sought after university courses depend on merit based academic performance. The adult literacy rate was estimated at 89.8% in 2011. Male literacy was 92.3% and Female literacy 87.3%. Niger has an extremely low literacy rate at 28.7%. However, the gender gap between males and females is a major problem for the country, men have a literacy rate of 42.9% and women a literacy rate of 15.1%. The Nigerien government defines literacy as anyone who can read

title: Literacy in India

text: rate per 1,000 people (6.4 in Kerala, 7.9 in Chhatisgarh). Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterates rose with every decade. The 2001–2011 decade is the second census period (after the 1991–2001 census period) when the absolute number of Indian illiterates declined (by 31,196,847 people), indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate. Six Indian states account for about 70% of all illiterates in India: Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal,Bihar.

title: Cuba

text: most popular. Other sports and pastimes include football, basketball, volleyball, cricket, and athletics. Cuba is a dominant force in amateur boxing, consistently achieving high medal tallies in major international competitions. Cuban boxers are not permitted to turn professional by their government. However, many boxers defect to the U.S. and other countries. Cuba also provides a national team that competes in the Olympic Games. The University of Havana was founded in 1728 and there are a number of other well-established colleges and universities. In 1957, just before Castro came to power, the literacy rate was fourth in the region at almost

title: Literacy in India

text: literacy rate of 75 per cent by 2007. Its charter is to impart functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 35–75 years. The "Total Literacy Campaign" is their principal strategy for the eradication of illiteracy. The "Continuing Education Scheme" provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total Literacy and Post Literacy programmes. The "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" (Hindi for "Total Literacy Campaign") was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14-year age-group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010. An important component of the scheme is the "Education Guarantee Scheme and

title: Literacy in India

text: provisioning additional services which are considered valuable by the community (such as free school lunches). Chattisgarh has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census. The literacy rate has risen from 39% in 1991 to 47% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2011. The Government of Chattisgarh has launched several programs to boost literacy, and its Department of Adult Education won a UNESCO award in 1981. Extensive impoverishment, entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of the hurdles literacy programs face in Chhatisgarh. Children from "lower

title: Education in Cuba

text: Cuba’s literacy rate and to initiate communication between the countryside and cities. Students and volunteers went to rural areas to teach people to read and provide information on current Cuban politics. Rural women received schooling and job training if they chose to receive it, which allowed them to work outside of agriculture. For women working as prostitutes in the cities the new government created programs to reeducate them once prostitution in Cuba was suppressed in 1961. Separate but similar programs were created for maids, offering schooling and job training along with free daycare and housing, which allowed the women full

title: Literacy in India

text: R's, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well being, and (iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of environment, women's equality, observance of small family norms. The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows: Literacy in India Literacy in India is a key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate has grown to 74% (2011 Census figure), with recent reports of 80% literacy approaching the

title: Cuban Literacy Campaign

text: In addition to the renewal of Cuba’s infrastructure, there were strong ideological reasons for education reform. In pre-Revolutionary Cuba, there was a dichotomy between urban citizens and rural citizens (who were often agricultural workers). The Cuban Revolution was driven by the need for equality, particularly among these classes. Before the campaign, the rate of illiteracy among city dwellers was 11%, compared to 41.7% in the countryside. The Literacy Campaign was designed to force contact between sectors of society that would not usually interact. As Fidel Castro put it in 1961 while addressing literacy teachers, “You will teach, and you will

title: Literacy

text: attempting to improve the literacy rate until 1971 when it gave the responsibility to Department for Vocational Training at the Secretariat for Youth and Sports. This department and subsequent following departments had no clear policy on literacy until the Department of Literacy and Basic Education was formed in 1986. The government of Senegal relies heavily on funding from the World Bank to fund its school system. There is no reliable data on the nationwide literacy rate in Somalia. A 2013 FSNAU survey indicates considerable differences per region, with the autonomous northeastern Puntland region having the highest registered literacy rate at

title: Literacy

text: 8 years of primary school are provided tuition-free by the government. In January 2008, the government began offering a restricted program of free secondary education. Literacy is much higher among the young than the old population, with the total being about 53% for the country. Most of this literacy, however, is elementary—not secondary or advanced. Mali has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, at 33.4%, with males having a 43.1% literacy rate and females having a 24.6% literacy rate. The government defines literacy as anyone who is at least 15 and over who can read or write.

title: Literacy in India

text: Government efforts in expanding schools and providing teachers were sustained after the 1960s and communities often responded very collaboratively, including with constructing school rooms and providing firewood essential during the Himalayan winters. Mizoram is the third most literate state in India (91.58 percent), next to Tripura and Kerala, with Serchhip and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India (literacy rate is 98.76% and 98.50%), both in Mizoram. Mizoram's literacy rate rose rapidly after independence: from 31.14% in 1951 to 88.80% in 2001. As in Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram has a social structure that is relatively free of hierarchy

title: Literacy in Romania

text: Literacy in Romania Before World War II, the literacy rate in Romania ranked among the lowest in Europe. In 1930, at the time of the first official census, more than 38 percent of the population over seven years of age were considered illiterate: 50 percent of the women and over 25 percent of the men in the entire population of about 18 million were unable to read or write. In rural areas, where most of the population lived, illiteracy rate was considered even higher. Prominent reasons for the lack of literacy were that children of school age either were not

title: Literacy in India

text: the first place. Chhatisgarh I am's government schools have also faced teacher absenteeism, leading the state government to threaten to withhold of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis. To incentivise students to attend, the government announced a Rupee 1 per school-day grant to poor children who show up at school. Presently Tripura has the highest literacy rate in India, 94.65 percent. According to the 2011 census, literacy level was 93.91 percent in Kerala and 91.58 percent in Mizoram, among the most literate states in the country. The national literacy rate, according to the 2011

title: Literacy

text: 72%. The Sierra Leone government defines literacy as anyone over the age of 15 who can read and write in English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic. Official statics put the literacy rate at 43.3%. Sierra Leone was the second country to use the Literacy, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding project. However, due to fighting near the city where the project was centered causing the project to be delayed until an arms amnesty was in place. Uganda has a literacy rate of 66.8%. Zimbabwe has a high literacy rate of 86.5% (2016 est.). Afghanistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the

title: Literacy

text: other words, 20% of the adult population. The countries with the lowest levels of literacy in the world are also concentrated in this region. These include Niger (28.7%), Burkina Faso (28.7%), Mali (33.4%), Chad (35.4%) and Ethiopia (39%), where adult literacy rates are well below 50%. There are, however, certain exceptions, like Equatorial Guinea, with a literacy rate of 94%. The literacy rate of Algeria is around 70%: education is compulsory and free in Algeria up to age of 17. Botswana has among the highest literacy rates in the developing world with around 85% of its population being literate. Burkina

title: Literacy

text: and knowledge. The government has a program of literacy teaching starting in kindergarten. New reforms are being brought in shifting to a K-12 system which will teach children their regional languages before English, as opposed to the ten-year basic education program which teaches English and Filipino, the country's two official languages, from Grade 1. With a literacy rate of 92.5%, Sri Lanka has one of the most literate populations amongst developing nations. Its youth literacy rate stands at 98%, computer literacy rate at 35%, and primary school enrollment rate at over 99%. An education system which dictates 9 years of

title: Literacy

text: today, compared with 87% in 1994. Djibouti has an estimated literacy rate of 70%. According to the Ministry of Information of Eritrea, the nation has an estimated literacy rate of 80%. The Ethiopians are among the first literate people in the world, having written, read, and created manuscripts in their ancient language of Ge'ez (Amharic) since the second century CE. All boys learned to read the Psalms around the age of 7. National literacy campaign introduced in 1978 increased literacy rates to between 37% (unofficial) and 63% (official) by 1984. Guinea has a literacy rate of 41%. The Guinea government

title: Literacy

text: peasants to read. Since democracy returned to Brazil, however, there has been a steady increase in the percentage of literate people. Educators with the Axé project within the city of Salvador, Bahía attempt to improve literacy rates among urban youth, especially youth living on the streets, through the use of music and dances of the local culture. They are encouraged to continue their education and become professionals. The literacy rates in Africa vary significantly between countries. The highest registered literacy rate in the region is in Equatorial Guinea and Libya (both 94.2%), while the lowest literacy rate is in South

title: Literacy in the United States

text: the functionally illiterate, and these are then removed from those classified as literate, then the resultant literacy rate for the United States would be at most 65-85% depending on where in the basic, minimal competence quantile one sets the cutoff. The 15% figure for full literacy, equivalent to a university undergraduate level, is consistent with the notion that the "average" American reads at a 7th or 8th grade level which is also consistent with recommendations, guidelines, and norms of readability for medication directions, product information, and popular fiction. The CIA The World Factbook states that "There are no universal definitions

title: Literacy

text: world at 28.1% with males having a literacy rate of 43.1% and females with a literacy rate of 12.6%. The Afghan government considers someone literate if they are 15 years of age or older, and if they can read and write. To improve the literacy rate U.S. military trainers have been teaching Afghan Army recruits how to read before teaching to fire a weapon. U.S. commanders in the region estimate that as many as 65% of recruits may be illiterate. The PRC conducts standardized testing to assess proficiency in Standard Chinese, known as "putonghua," but it is primarily for foreigners

title: Scientific literacy

text: higher than that for Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. And it’s double the 2005 rate in the United Kingdom (and the collective rate for the European Union)." University educators are attempting to develop reliable instruments to measure scientific literacy, and the use of concept inventories is increasing in the fields of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and earth science. Scientific literacy Scientific literacy or Science literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy is chiefly concerned with an understanding of the scientific method, units and methods of measurement,

title: Cuban Literacy Campaign

text: Many of the Literacy Campaign’s volunteers went on to pursue teaching careers, and the rate of teachers is now 11 times higher than it was before the revolution. Before the revolutionary government nationalized schools, private institutions often excluded large segments of society; wealthy Cubans often received exemplary instruction in private schools, while children of the working class received low-quality education or did not attend school at all. Education became accessible to a much larger segment of the population after 1959. The percentage of children enrolled in school in Cuba (ages 6–12) increased dramatically over the years: It is estimated that

title: Literacy in India

text: statehood was granted to Rajasthan in 1956, it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18%. Apart from above, the corporate sector in India has pitched in with the aim of improving literacy, primarily in villages around their factories. For example, J K group has helped over 29,000 citizens of India, mostly village women, to move towards literacy – which means being able to sign their name, read sign boards and handle money, in local languages in eight different states. TATA group claims to have added literates using their Computer Based Functional Literacy (CBFL) method.

title: Literacy in India

text: "he had experienced as a child what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food". Eventually, the programme covered all children under the age of 15, as well as pregnant women for the first four months of their pregnancy. Tamil Nadu's literacy rate rose from 54.4% in 1981 to 80.3% in 2011. In 2001, the Supreme Court of India instructed all state governments to implement free school lunches in all government-funded schools, but implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues. Despite these hurdles, 120 million receive free lunches

title: Health in Cuba

text: 5; World, 46; High income countries, 6; United States, 6. The table below shows CEPAL (United nations) data spanning the pre- and post-revolutionary periods for three public health indicators. Health levels were better than the Latin American average before the revolution and showed continued steady improvement throughout the post-revolutionary period. The total mortality rate shown is the crude – "i.e.", not age-adjusted – rate, and therefore tends to rise as the proportion of elderly people in the population increases, which has been the case in Cuba because the birth rate is falling and life expectancy is rising. Cuba began a

title: Abortion in Cuba

text: abortion, which was no longer restricted to extreme cases and was to be carried out by public doctors free of charge, rather than by private practitioners. The pre-revolutionary fertility rate in Cuba was extremely low, compared to its Latin American peers, and dropped as low as 26 per 1,000 people in 1958. Post-revolutionary Cuba experienced a significant baby boom, which peaked in the mid-1960s. Following the increased fertility rate alongside the 1965 decriminalization of abortion, legal abortion rates in Cuba rose dramatically. By 1977, the Cuban population reached 420 legal abortions per 1,000 people, the highest legal abortion rate in

title: Healthcare in Cuba

text: In 2000, Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan stated that "Cuba should be the envy of many other nations" adding that achievements in social development are impressive given the size of its gross domestic product per capita. "Cuba demonstrates how much nations can do with the resources they have if they focus on the right priorities – health, education, and literacy." The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-governmental organization that evaluated Cuba’s healthcare system in 2000-1 described Cuba as "a shining example of the power of public health to transform the health of an entire country by a commitment

title: History of Cuba

text: Health Organization, the island had the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America, and the 13th-lowest in the world better than in contemporary France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Additionally, Cuba's education spending in the 1950s was the highest in Latin America, relative to GDP. Cuba had the fourth-highest literacy rate in the region, at almost 80% according to the United Nations higher than that of Spain at the time. However, the United States, rather than Latin America, was the frame of reference for educated Cubans. Cubans travelled to the United States, read American newspapers,

title: Literacy in India

text: rural scenario. Specific mention is to be made regarding the role of the People's Science Movements (PSMs) in the Literacy Mission in India during the early 1990s. Several non-governmental organisations such as Pratham, ITC, Rotary Club, Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India. Manthan Sampoorna Vikas Kendra Manthan SVK is a holistic education programme initiated by Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan under the guidance of His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharajji. This initiative, started in 2008, has since then reached and spread education to over 5000 underprivileged children across India, with its centres spread in Delhi - NCR,

title: Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign

text: campaign was based on the "Yo, sí puedo" (Yes, I can) Cuban method. Estimates say over 350,000-500,000 Nicaraguans would be taught to read and write. The literacy campaign was coordinated by Orlando Pineda and received finance and support from Cuba, Spain and Venezuela. The goal of the literacy campaigns is to declare Nicaragua free of illiteracy by 2009. <br> Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, also called the Literacy Campaign, was a campaign launched in 1980 by the Sandinista government in order to reduce illiteracy in Nicaragua. It was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award. There have been many

title: Literacy in India

text: education is not deemed of as the highest priority among the poor as compared to other basic necessities. The MRP-based (mixed recall period) poverty estimates of about 22% of poverty in 2004–05 which translated to 22 out of per 100 people are not meeting their basic needs, much less than meeting the need for education. The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for the low literacy rate in India. Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at 65.46% than that of their male counterparts at 82.14%. Due to strong stereotyping of female and

title: Taxation in Cuba

text: the amount of the preliminary tax paid during the fiscal year is higher than the final tax according to income and tax rate, no tax refund is made. That is, tax refunds are not made in any case. Income for remittances from abroad to natural persons is not taxed, but income for contracts taken abroad is taxed at a 4% rate without right to any deductions. Taxation in Cuba Taxation in Cuba is regulated by the Law 113th of 2012. The law establishes the form and basis of both natural and legal persons. Income tax is levied to natural persons

title: Literacy in India

text: rate is for the 15–24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults). One of the main factors contributing to this relatively low literacy rate is usefulness of education and availability of schools in vicinity in rural areas. There is a shortage of classrooms to accommodate all the students in 2006–2007. In addition, there is no proper sanitation in most schools. The study of 188 government-run primary schools in central and northern India revealed that 59% of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89% no toilets. In 600,000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats, 'free and

title: Literacy

text: defines literacy as anyone who can read or write who is at least 15 years old. Guinea was the first to use the Literacy, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding project. This project was developed to increase agriculture production, develop key skills, resolve conflict, improve literacy, and numeracy skills. The LCRP worked within refugee camps near the border of Sierra Leone, however this project only lasted from 1999 to 2001. There are several other international projects working within the country that have similar goals. The literacy rate in Kenya among people below 20 years of age is over 70%, as the first

title: Women's rights in Cuba

text: set out to help with the country's history of rates of illiteracy. About a quarter of the population of Cuba was illiterate when Fidel Castro took power and over half were women. By 1961, nearly the entire country was literate, primarily in thanks to volunteers (of which around 56% were young women) going to rural areas to teach literacy. As of 2011, women in Cuba made up more than 80% of university students and around 68% of university graduates. Comparatively, women made up about 57% of undergraduates in the United States in 2008. Women in Cuba also make up about

title: Rate (mathematics)

text: the units of a rate, the word "per" is used to separate the units of the two measurements used to calculate the rate (for example a heart rate is expressed "beats per minute"). A rate defined using two numbers of the same units (such as tax rates) or counts (such as literacy rate) will result in a dimensionless quantity, which can be expressed as a percentage (for example, the global literacy rate in 1998 was 80%) or fraction or as a multiple. Often "rate" is a synonym of rhythm or frequency, a count per second (i.e., Hertz); e.g., radio frequencies

title: Literacy

text: The government of Mali and international organizations in recent years has taken steps to improve the literacy rate. The government recognized the slow progress in literacy rates and began created ministries for basic education and literacy for their national languages in 2007. To also improve literacy the government planned to increase its education budget by 3%, when this was purposed it was at 35% in 2007. The lack of literate adults causes the programs to be slowed. The programs need qualified female trainers is a major problem because most men refuse to send female family members to be trained under

title: Literacy

text: the importance of literacy and being able to read the Bible. The Protestant countries were the first to attain full literacy; Scandinavian countries were fully literate in the early 17th century. The Church demanded literacy as the pre-requisite for marriage in Sweden, further propagating full literacy. Literacy data published by UNESCO displays that since 1950, the adult literacy rate at the world level has increased by 5 percentage points every decade on average, from 55.7 per cent in 1950 to 86.2 per cent in 2015. However, for four decades, the population growth was so rapid that the number of illiterate

title: Education in Cuba

text: rural areas worked in agriculture and for women in the city working as a maid or prostitute were the only choices. The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) was founded in August 1960 with a clear goal to involve all women in Cuban affairs. After years of being excluded, the women of Cuba began to play an active role in the government. The FMC wanted to see women involved with the social, political, economical and cultural issues Cuba faced. This required that schools and programs be built to provide multiple services to Cuban women. The Literacy Campaign was created to increase

title: Literacy in Romania

text: this authoritative statement, Western demographers consider that, although illiteracy has been significantly reduced, it probably still exists among older segments of the population, particularly in remote areas of the country. Literacy in Romania Before World War II, the literacy rate in Romania ranked among the lowest in Europe. In 1930, at the time of the first official census, more than 38 percent of the population over seven years of age were considered illiterate: 50 percent of the women and over 25 percent of the men in the entire population of about 18 million were unable to read or write. In

title: Literacy in Romania

text: various people's councils, and a determined campaign was undertaken to increase enrollment. Most of these courses lasted two years and were conducted on a weekly basis by both regular teachers and literate volunteers; successful completion was officially considered equivalent to graduation from a four-year elementary school. As a result of these efforts, the 1956 census showed an overall increase in the literacy rate to about 90 percent. According to this census, illiteracy was still concentrated in the rural areas and among women. Literacy courses were continued until late 1958, when the government officially declared that illiteracy had been eliminated. Despite

title: Literacy

text: drove literacy rates up. English became the lingua franca in the Philippines. It was only during a brief period in the Japanese occupation of the Philippines that the Japanese were able to teach their language in the Philippines and teach the children their written language. After World War II, the Philippines had the highest literacy rates in Asia. It nearly achieved universal literacy once again in the 1980s and 1990s. Ever since then, the literacy rate has plummeted only to start regaining a few percentage years back. The DepEd, CHED, and other academic institutions encourage children to improve literacy skills

title: Crime in Cuba

text: female "jinetera". The term "jineterismo" became widely-used in the 1990s as a synonym for prostitution in Cuba, with prostitutes being referred to as "jineteras". The United States Department of State defines "jineteros" as: Cuba has a moderate corruption rate. The 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the country 58th out of 176 countries, tied with Jordan and Namibia. Cuba fared better than most of the other countries in the Caribbean and Central America. State ownership has contributed to rampant corruption. The book "Corruption in Cuba" says that "As in other former socialist countries, when given opportunity, few citizens hesitate

title: Literacy

text: 6,998, compared to the national average. In Balochistan, although almost the same amount (Rs 6,985) as in Punjab is spent per child, the primary school survival rate is only 53 percent. Girls’ survival rate is slightly better with 54 percent than that of boys which is 52 percent. Literate Pakistan Foundation, a non-profit organization, which was established in 2003, is a case study, which brings to light the solutions for removing this menace from its roots. It works to improve rate of literacy in Pakistan. The data of the survey shows that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, primary school survival rate is

title: Visual literacy

text: used in the classroom. The term "visual literacy" is credited to John Debes, co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association. In 1969 Debes offered a tentative definition of the concept: "Visual literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences." A white paper drawn up in January 2004, defines visual literacy as "understanding how people perceive objects, interpret what they see, and what they learn from them". However, because multiple disciplines such as visual literacy in education, art history and criticism, rhetoric, semiotics, philosophy,

title: Transport in Cuba

text: caused by the loss of the Soviet Union as a trading partner), hitchhiking and carpooling became important parts of Cuba's transportation system and society in general. In 1999, an article in "Time" magazine claimed "In Cuba[...] hitchhiking is custom. Hitchhiking is essential. Hitchhiking is what makes Cuba move." Besides the state owned airline Cubana (Cubana de Aviación), the two other major Cuban airlines are Aero Caribbean and Aerogaviota, both of whom operate modern European and Russian aircraft. One other airline is Aerotaxi. Transport in Cuba Transportation in Cuba is composed of a system of railways, roads, airports, waterways, ports and

title: Health in Cuba

text: levels of 32.0 per 1000 pregnancies. The rate is still among the highest in Latin America. Among adults less than 49 years old, accidents are the leading cause of death, though occupational accidents have declined significantly in the last decade. The homicide rate is 7.0 per 100,000. The rate of suicide in the island is higher than average in Latin America and has been among the highest in the region and the world since the nineteenth century. Annual suicide deaths per 100,000 population (2003–2005 data) were: Cuba 13.6, Americas 7.7, Latin America and Caribbean 5.8, Latin Caribbean 8.7, United States

title: Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign

text: local Miskito, Sumo and various Creole languages such as Nicaraguan Creole. This was followed by many other literacy campaigns throughout the nation. The first phase of the literacy campaign was carried out with support of Sandinista mayors’ offices and used audiovisual equipment and teaching materials donated by Cuba as well as consulting assistance. During that period, around 70,000 people learned to read and write. In 2007, after Daniel Ortega began his second term as President of Nicaragua, under the Carlos Fonseca Amador Popular Education Association, a new literacy campaign was announced and later launched in March 2007. The new literacy

title: Abortion in Cuba

text: the woman. Cuba's data shows a lack of correlation between the use of contraception and the abortion rate. Other Latin American countries, such as Chile, have observed decreased hospitalization rates related to unsafe abortion complications after the popularization of contraceptive use. Cuba, however, simultaneously sees high contraception use and high rates of abortion. One possible explanation for this lack of correlation could be the high failure rates of contraceptives in Cuba, which rose as high as 20%, in 1987. Other contraceptives and methods of birth control are still very commonly used in Cuba, in addition to abortion, as means of

title: Healthcare in Cuba

text: professionals, "serious complaints about the intrusion of politics into medical treatment and health care decision-making". She points out that "there is no right to privacy in the physician-patient relationship in Cuba, no patients’ right of informed consent, no right to refuse treatment, and no right to protest or sue for malpractice". In her view medical care in Cuba can be dehumanizing. Hirschfeld explains also that the Cuban Ministry of Health (MINSAP) sets statistical targets that are viewed as production quotas. The most guarded is infant mortality rate. To illustrate this, Hirschfeld describes a case where a doctor said that if

title: Sport in Cuba

text: in Cuba was earning. It is worthy to note that Castro abolished professional sport in Cuba in the beginning of the Revolution. What this meant was that all leagues and teams are considered amateur. This concept was imbedded in the stated ideals of the revolution, that everyone should be equal. However this outflow of the best athletes and trainers began to take its toll. In 1997 Cuba ended its 10-year, 152-game, winning-streak at the baseball International Cup by losing to Japan 11 to 2. To fix this problem, Cuba began to offer material incentives like houses and cars to the

title: Literacy in the United States

text: level 4 (326-375), and level 5 (376-500). The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as one of their assessment programs. The study included comparisons to the 1992 survey. Adults (over sixteen years of age) were scored on their prose, document and quantitative literacy. There was "no significant change in prose and document literacy between 1992 and 2003; but quantitative literacy improved. The study maintained the practice from the 1992 "National Adult Literacy Survey" of dividing literacy into three different aspects, each measured on a 500 point scale. Scores in each

title: Information literacy

text: to students' becoming information literate"; to include information literacy concerns in teacher education; and to promote public awareness of the relationship between information literacy and the more general goals of "literacy, productivity, and democracy." In March 1998 the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy re-evaluated its Final Report and published an update. The update looks at what the Final Report set out to accomplish, its six main goals, and how far it had come to that point in meeting those objectives. Before identifying what still needs to be done, the updated report recognizes what the previous report and the National Forum

title: What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy

text: the player's life). Katie Salen promotes games as a learning tool for the 21st century. She helped design and launch Quest to Learn where learning takes place by playing and exploring games. The curriculum is organized around the idea that "digital games are central to the lives of today's children and also increasingly, as their speed and capabilities grow, powerful tools for intellectual exploration." What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy is a book by James Paul Gee that focuses on the learning principles in

title: Healthcare in Cuba

text: population with 67 doctors per 10,000 population as compared with 43 in the Russian Federation and 24 in the United States. Abortion rates, which are high in Cuba, increased dramatically during the 1980s, but had almost halved by 1999 and declined to near-1970s levels of 32.0 per 1000 pregnancies. The rate is still among the highest in Latin America. According to the UNAIDS report of 2003 there were an estimated 3,300 Cubans living with HIV/AIDS (approx 0.05% of the population). In the mid-1980s, when little was known about the virus, Cuba compulsorily tested thousands of its citizens for HIV. Those

title: Literacy

text: and women. Most countries in East Asia and the Pacific, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, are above a 90% literacy rate for adults. Illiteracy persists to a greater extent in other regions: 2013 UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) data indicates adult literacy rates of only, 67.55% in South Asia and North Africa, 59.76% in Sub-Saharan Africa. In much of the world, high youth literacy rates suggest that illiteracy will become less and less common as younger generations with higher educational attainment levels replace older ones. However, in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the vast majority of

title: Literacy

text: population's levels of literacy, therefore leaving few options in terms of materials from which to draw literary rate estimates. In his research of literacy rates of males and females in New France, Trudel found that in 1663, of 1,224 persons in New France who were of marriageable age, 59% of grooms and 46% of brides wrote their name; however, of the 3,000-plus colony inhabitants, less than 40% were native born. Signature rates were therefore likely more reflective of rates of literacy among French immigrants. Magnuson's (1985) research revealed a trend: signature rates for the period of 1680–1699 were 42% for

title: Racism in Cuba

text: Racism in Cuba Racism in Cuba refers to racial discrimination against Afro-Cuban or mixed-race communities. The Cuban census reports that 65% of the population is white while foreign figures report an estimate of the number of whites at anywhere from 40 to 45 percent. "The Economist" states that, although the population is now mainly mulatto and black, its rulers form "a mainly white gerontocracy". According to Voyages – The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, about 900,000 Africans were brought to Cuba as slaves. To compare, some 470,000 Africans were brought to what is now the United States, and 5,500,000 to the

title: Literacy in American Lives

text: rapidly becoming more socially and technologically based. Characteristics of literacy practices began to carry more weight in the economic and social worlds. For example, the quality of one's writing was now beginning to be seen as a reflection of an individual's characteristics, personality, and competence. Thus, practice of these literacy skills were enforced in Jack's household to the point that he acquired an aversion for several of them. After obtaining employment in the field of business, Jack received on-the-job training in literacy practices; much more than what his grandmother would have received or that Jack even needed. This exemplifies how

title: Corruption in Cuba

text: Corruption in Cuba Cuba has suffered from widespread and rampant corruption since the establishment of the Republic of Cuba in 1902. The book "Corruption in Cuba" states that public ownership resulted in "a lack of identifiable ownership and widespread misuse and theft of state resources... when given opportunity, few citizens hesitate to steal from the government." Furthermore, the complex relationship between governmental and economic institutions makes them especially "prone to corruption." The question of what causes corruption in Cuba presently and historically continues to be discussed and debated by scholars. Jules R. Benjamin suggests that Cuba's corrupt politics were a

title: Healthcare in Cuba

text: in New York and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author on aging, traveled to Cuba to see firsthand how doctors were trained. He said a principal reason that some health standards in Cuba approach the high American level is that the Cuban system emphasizes early intervention. Clinic visits are free, and the focus is on preventing disease rather than treating it. Furthermore, London's "The Guardian" newspaper lauded Cuba's public healthcare system for what it viewed as its high quality in a September 12, 2007 article. In 2001, members of the UK House of Commons Health Select Committee travelled to Cuba and issued

title: Literacy in the United States

text: and standards of literacy" and that their statistics are based on the most common definition - "the ability to read and write at a specified age." It is also noted in "The Factbook" that "Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons." Rates of literacy in the United States depend on which of the various definitions of literacy is used. Governments may label as

text: What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy is a book by James Paul Gee that focuses on the learning principles in video games and how these principles can be applied to the K-12 classroom. Video games can be used as tools to challenge players, when they are successful. They motivate players to persevere and simultaneously teach players how to play the game. These games give a glimpse into how one might create new and more powerful ways to learn in schools, communities, and workplaces. Gee

title: Scientific literacy

text: its well-being and one's sense of empowerment to make a difference. These attitudes may be important measures of science literacy, as described in the case of ocean literacy. Proponents of scientific literacy tend to focus on what is learned by the time a student graduates from high school. Science literacy has always been an important element of the standards movement in education. All science literacy documents have been drafted with the explicit intent of influencing educational standards, as a means to drive curriculum, teaching, assessment, and ultimately, learning nationwide. Programs to promote scientific literacy among students abound, including several programs

title: Visual literacy

text: information design, and graphic design make use of the term visual literacy, arriving at a common definition of visual literacy has been contested since its first appearance in professional publications. Since technological advances continue to develop at an unprecedented rate, educators are increasingly promoting the learning of visual literacies as indispensable to life in the information age. Similar to linguistic literacy (meaning-making derived from written or oral human language) commonly taught in schools, most educators would agree that literacy in the 21st Century has a wider scope. Educators are recognizing the importance of helping students develop visual literacies in order

title: Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign

text: Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, also called the Literacy Campaign, was a campaign launched in 1980 by the Sandinista government in order to reduce illiteracy in Nicaragua. It was awarded the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award. There have been many other literacy campaigns in the country since the first one was launched in 1980. Prior to the Sandinista Revolution in 1979 the majority of the rural population of Nicaragua was illiterate, with estimates as high as 75%-90%. The total population had an estimated illiteracy rate of 50%. Planning for the literacy campaign began approximately four months after the Sandinista

title: Web literacy

text: These skills were included in definitions of information literacy and included in a SCONUL position paper in 1999. This paper became the '7 Pillars of Information Literacy', which was last updated in 2011. The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes openness, innovation and participation on the Internet. It has created a Web Literacy Map in consultation with a community of stakeholders from formal and informal education, as well as industry. Web literacy is described as "the skills and competencies needed for reading, writing and participating on the web". Work on what was originally entitled a Web Literacy 'Standard'

title: Literacy in India

text: Tripura. Kerala has the second highest literacy rate (93.91 percent) among the states of India just after Tripura (94.65%). Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in the year 2006–2007.[143] More than 94% of the rural population has access to a primary school within 1 km, while 98% of the population benefits one school within a distance of 2 km. An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96% of the people, whose 98% benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km. The access for rural

title: Literacy

text: the world's illiterate youth live, lower school enrollment implies that illiteracy will persist to a greater degree. According to 2013 UIS data, the youth literacy rate (individuals ages 15 to 24) is 84.03% in South Asia and North Africa, and 70.06% in Sub-Saharan Africa. That being said, literacy has rapidly spread in several regions in the last twenty-five years (see image). On a worldwide scale, illiteracy disproportionately impacts women. According to 2015 UIS data collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, about two-thirds (63%) of the world's illiterate adults are women. This disparity was even starker in previous decades: from

title: Literacy in the United States

text: literate those individuals who can read a couple of thousand simple words they learned by sight in the first four grades in school. Other sources may term such individuals functionally illiterate if they are unable to use basic sources of written information like warning labels and driving directions. The CIA World Factbook uses the common definition of "literacy" as "age 15 and over can read and write" but notes that the Factbook is used for country comparisons, not detailed standards, which is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Functional literacy can be broken down further as useful literacy, informational literacy,

title: Literacy in the United States

text: and low literacy rates amongst the youth is particularly pertinent to achieving high levels of mass literacy because the issue of subpar academic performance is compounded. Essentially, students who struggle at an early age continue to struggle throughout their educational years because they do not have the same foundation of understanding and breadth of knowledge to build upon as their peers. This often translates below average poor literacy levels in later grades and even adulthood. Literacy levels at both adult and adolescent ages have been brought under greater scrutinization in the U.S., with numerous reports and studies being published year

title: Visual literacy

text: formats of visual literacy and also many different ways of teaching students how to interpret visual literacy. Questions to be asked when looking at visuals can be "What is going on in this photograph?" and "What comes to mind when you first look at this photograph?". This allows students to begin the analyzing process. When looking at visuals, students should be able to see, understand, think, create and communicate graphically. In order to do all, the student must always carefully observe. Film director Martin Scorsese emphasizes how children should begin developing visual literacy skills at an early age. This involves

title: Literacy

text: that can give micro loans. Maman personally teaches children in and around Kiota, with special attention to girls. Maman has her students require instructor permission to allow the girls' parents to marry their daughters early. This increases the amount of education these girls receive, as well as delaying marriage, pregnancy, and having children. Senegal has a literacy rate of 49.7%; the government defines literacy as anyone who is at least 15 years of age and over who can read and write. However, many students do not attend school long enough to be considered literate. The government did not begin actively

title: What Is the What

text: That Happens Will Happen Today". Tom Tykwer plans to adapt the novel into a film. In 2009, the novel received the Prix Médicis étranger in France. What Is the What What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when

title: Healthcare in Cuba

text: Oriente, were significantly worse. The mortality rate was the third lowest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, the island had the lowest infant mortality rate of Latin America. Following the Revolution and the subsequent United States embargo against Cuba, an increase in disease and infant mortality worsened in the 1960s. The new Cuban government asserted that universal healthcare was to become a priority of state planning. In 1960 revolutionary and physician Che Guevara outlined his aims for the future of Cuban healthcare in an essay entitled "On Revolutionary Medicine", stating: "The work that today is entrusted to

title: What Is the What

text: What Is the What What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia, referred to as "murahaleen" (which is Arabic for the deported), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai. During the assault, he loses sight

title: Cuban Literacy Campaign

text: 268,000 Cubans worked to eliminate illiteracy during the Year of Education, and around 707,000 Cubans became literate by December 22, 1961. By 1962, the country’s literacy rate was 96%, one of the highest in the world. Cuban literacy educators trained during the campaign went on to assist in literacy campaigns in 15 other countries, for which a Cuban organization was awarded the King Sejong Literacy Prize by UNESCO. Additionally, over the past 50 years, thousands of Cuban literacy teachers have volunteered in countries such as Haiti, Nicaragua and Mozambique. The thank-you letters to Fidel Castro, used by UNESCO to evaluate

title: International Literacy Day

text: has the lowest regional adult literacy rate (58.6%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7%). Countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%). The report shows a clear connection between illiteracy and countries in severe poverty, and between illiteracy and prejudice against women. Celebrations of International Literacy Day have included specific themes, in line with Education For All goals and other United Nations programs such as the United Nations Literacy Decade. The celebration's theme for 2007 and 2008 was “Literacy and Health”, with prizes awarded to organizations at the forefront of health

title: Christianity in Cuba

text: founding schools and hospitals. The large U.S. missionary presence in Cuba to a certain point eclipsed the original native missionary efforts, and tensions between foreign and local leaders occurred in virtually every Protestant denomination. The 20th century would be followed by what would be considered the Americanization of Protestantism. Christianity in Cuba Christianity has played an important role in Cuba's history. Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus a few days after he arrived to the New World in 1492. In 1511, colonization began when the Conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar established the Catholic Church in Cuba with the early priest

title: Literacy in the United States

text: Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources Literacy in the United States The National Bureau of Economic Research published a data series overviewing the history of education in the United States leading up to the 20th and 21st centuries, stating that "formal education, especially basic literacy, is essential for a well-functioning democracy, and enhances citizenship and community." In the 19th century, literacy rates amongst the United States

title: Literacy in the United States

text: and pleasurable literacy. Useful literacy reflects the most common practice of using understanding of written text to navigate daily life, as in the aforementioned examples. Informational literacy can essentially be defined as text comprehension and the ability to connect the new information presented in the text to previous knowledge. Pleasurable literacy is simply the ability of an individual to read, understand, and engage with texts that he or she enjoys. In a more abstract sense, multiple literacies can be classified into school, community, and personal conceptions. These categories refer to an individual's ability to learn about academic subjects, understand social

title: Critical literacy

text: literacy is an instructional approach, stemming from Marxist critical pedagogy, that advocates the adoption of "critical" perspectives toward text. Critical literacy encourages readers to actively analyze texts and offers strategies for what proponents describe as uncovering underlying messages. There are several different theoretical perspectives on critical literacy that have produced different pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. All of these approaches share the basic premise that literacy requires the literate consumers of text to adopt a critical and questioning approach. When students examine the writer’s message for bias, they are practicing critical literacy. This skill of actively engaging with the

title: Havana's International Book Fair

text: festival consists of book vendors, poetry readings, children’s activities, art exhibitions, and concerts in the evenings. It is considered Cuba’s premier cultural event, as well as the event with the highest attendance in Havana. The 18th annual International Book Fair in 2009 had approximately 600,000 visitors. Literacy in Cuba is one of the greatest legacies of the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The law that established the National Press of Cuba was one of the first measures of the revolution. In 1961, Cuba launched a National Literacy Campaign and today, according to the United Nations, Cuba has the highest literacy rate

title: History of the Catholic Church in Cuba

text: members of the Communist Party. The subsequent flight of 300,000 people from the island also helped to diminish the Church there. In 1992, Cuba declared itself a secular state and permitted Catholics and others to join the Communist Party. However, religious schools have remained closed since the early 1960s. History of the Catholic Church in Cuba Christopher Columbus, on his first Spanish-sponsored voyage to the Americas in 1492, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. Columbus, who was searching for a route to India, believed the

title: Digital literacy

text: this there is little consensus on what metrics to use, with different authors providing different criteria, some of which are overly vague or otherwise loosely defined. Digital literacy is often discussed in the context of its precursor media literacy. Media literacy education began in the United Kingdom and the United States as a result of war propaganda in the 1930s and the rise of advertising in the 1960s, respectively. Manipulative messaging and the increase in various forms of media further concerned educators.Educators began to promote media literacy education in order to teach individuals how to judge and access the media

title: Literacy

text: of symbols to be memorized. But a lack of books and other written materials has hindered functional literacy in Laos, where many children and adults read so haltingly that the skill is hardly beneficial. A literacy project in Laos addresses this by using what it calls "books that make literacy fun!" The project, Big Brother Mouse, publishes colorful, easy-to-read books, then delivers them by holding book parties at rural schools. Some of the books are modeled on successful western books by authors such as Dr. Seuss; the most popular, however, are traditional Lao fairy tales. Two popular collections of folktales

title: Scientific literacy

text: sponsored by technology companies, as well as quiz bowls and science fairs. A partial list of such programs includes the Global Challenge Award, the National Ocean Sciences Bowl and Action Bioscience. Some organizations have attempted to compare the scientific literacy of adults in different countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that scientific literacy in the United States is not measurably different from the OECD average. Science News reports "The new U.S. rate, based on questionnaires administered in 2008, is seven percentage points behind Sweden, the only European nation to exceed the Americans. The U.S. figure is slightly

title: Health in Cuba

text: these values in context, life expectancy at birth in some other regions and countries in 1960 were as follows (World Bank data):World, 50.18 years;Latin America and Caribbean, 56.21 years;high-income OECD countries, 69.01 years;United States, 69.77 years. In 2007, the life expectancies at birth were as follows (World Bank data):Cuba, 78.26 years;World, 68.76 years;Latin America and Caribbean, 73.13 years;high income OECD countries, 79.66 years;United States, 77.99 years. The mortality rate for children under five years old was 54 per 1000 in Cuba in 1960 (World Bank). That year in Latin America and the Caribbean it was 154.66 per 1000; in the

title: Cuba–Oceania relations

text: Cuba, to hold official talks with Cuban President Raul Castro. In June 2007, Nauru adopted the "Cuban literacy method", reportedly used also in several other countries. In October 2007, Nauruan Foreign Minister and Trade Minister David Adeang travelled to Cuba to strengthen relations between the two island nations. This led to the creation of a Cuba-Nauru Joint Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation. An unspecified number of Cuban doctors are serving in Nauru. In December 2010, President Marcus Stephen of Nauru paid his first State visit to Cuba, meeting President Raul Castro to "review the state of bilateral relations and to