Costa Rica's Daily News

Nicaragua Proclaims Education Anthem

Managua - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega issued a decree, establishing that the 1980 National Literacy Teaching Crusade Anthem would become the Nicaraguan Education anthem from now on.

The measure was adopted in commemoration of the 29th anniversary of the national literacy teaching campaign carried out in 1980 that was a milestone in national history, as one of the peak expressions of popular participation, the decree said.

With that effort, more than 400,000 Nicaraguans were taught basic literacy, lowering the illiteracy rate from 50.36 to 12.96 percent.

Nicaragua was proclaimed on Saturday a territory free of illiteracy, with a rate below 3.56 percent, according to Education Ministry figures.

The national literacy teaching crusade anthem's music was written by Nicaraguan singer songwriter Carlos Mejia Godoy.

This is an ode to the heroic feat in 1980 and the national literacy teaching campaign from the times of Marti to thos of Fidel Castro, developed by the government of reconciliation and national unity, during the period from 2007 to 2009, the presidential decree said.