The Cuban government has attached great importance to the cause of education for all of its people since the Cuban Revolution, Cuban Ambassador to Malaysia Pedro Monzon Barata said.

As part of the education program, the Cuban government has been providing computers and Internet facilities to schools, universities and youth clubs for many years, Monzon was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency on Friday.

The education program, instead of covering a small group of people in urban areas, benefits people living in remote areas as well, Monzon said in an interview with Bernama.

The ambassador added that his country has achieved a literacy rate of nearly 99 percent.

Thanks to the intense attention given to the cause of education, Cuba has produced many world-class scientists and made major discoveries in the medical and biotechnological fields, Monzon said.

The Cuban ambassador also reminded member countries of the Non- Aligned Movement (NAM) not to overlook the issues of illiteracy and hunger in their endeavor to advance information and communication technology.

The world must not ignore the fact that there are currently about 815 million hungry people, about 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty, about 115 million children lacking access to education and 2.4 billion people lacking basic sanitary facility, Monzon noted.

Malaysia will host the sixth Conference of Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries from Saturday to next Tuesday. The ministerial meeting will open next Monday while the senior officials will finalize the arrangements during this Saturday and Sunday.

Themed "Advancing Information and Communication Collaboration Towards a More Dynamic NAM," the conference will draw representatives from about 80 member countries of the 114-member NAM.

Source: Xinhua