Public Forum: Cuban Literacy at 50

Friday, April 15, 2011 - 13:00 to 14:30

In 1961, barely two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the country mobilised a mass literacy campaign with few parallels in the twentieth century. It has since been influential in national literacy campaigns in Chile during the Allende years and Sandinista Nicaragua, popular education in Colombia and El Salvador, and most recently in East Timor and Venezuela. This public forum will reflect critically on the Cuban campaign on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, in a comparative international context. Around one-third of the forum will be allocated to audience contributions.

Panel: HE Pedro Monzón, Cuban ambassador to Australia, Canberra; Ezequiel Morales, brigadista, Cuban Literacy Campaign, 1961; Dr Eulalia Reyes, Venezuelan educator (Barcelona-Venezuela & Brisbane); Viviana Ramírez, Chilean, senior teacher of Spanish, Qld Dept of Education.

Presentations in English; discussion bilingual. Tea and coffee provided

Venue: Room 612, Education Building (A35), University of Sydney