 Along with land reform , one of the primary areas that Guevara stressed needed national improvement was in the area of literacy . Before 1959 the official literacy rate for Cuba was between 60 – 76 % , with educational access in rural areas and a lack of instructors the main determining factors . As a result , the Cuban government at Guevara 's behest dubbed 1961 the " year of education " , and mobilized over 100 @,@ 000 volunteers into " literacy brigades " , who were then sent out into the countryside to construct schools , train new educators , and teach the predominantly illiterate <unk> ( peasants ) to read and write . Unlike many of Guevara 's later economic initiatives , this campaign was " a remarkable success " . By the completion of the Cuban Literacy Campaign , 707 @,@ 212 adults had been taught to read and write , raising the national literacy rate to 96 % . 
