Managua (Nicaragua), Aug 24 (Prensa Latina) Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country has attained full literacy after about three percent of the country's illiterate population learned to read and write.

Ortega made the announcement after Education Minister Miguel de Castilla gave him a certificate stating the full literacy status of the country.

The president said at a rally Saturday that Nicaragua launched its literacy campaign Aug 23, 1980, a year after the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution.

At that time, the country's illiteracy rate was 53 percent.

Ortega said the previous governments were not interested in educating people, as they wanted cheap labour.