STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionFormal school systemsIndigenous communities are frequently perceived as disappearing social andcultural forms that are no longer viable and which must be rescued by outsideforces through formal education and economic and social development. However,as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamentalfreedoms stated in his report on Indigenous Peoples and Education Systems:The systems of formal education historically provided bythe State or religious or private groups have been a twoedgedsword for indigenous peoples. On the one hand, theyhave often enabled indigenous children and youth to acquireknowledge and skills that will allow them to move ahead inlife and connect with the broader world. On the other hand,formal education, especially when its programmes, curriculaand teaching methods come from other societies that areremoved from indigenous cultures, has also been a means offorcibly changing, and in some cases, destroying, indigenouscultures. 23a majority of indigenouschildren do not enjoyaccess to education thatis specifically designedfor their needs, taught intheir languages or thatreflects their world viewsPolicymakers have long been aware of the formative socializing qualities ofeducation. During the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century,this knowledge informed decisions in many countries, such as Canada, Australiaand the United States, where formal education in missionary and many boardingand residential schools separated children from families. This left a legacy of whatis referred to in these countries as the “lost” or “stolen” generations.Although reliable data are not available on a global scale, it is nevertheless clearthat a majority of indigenous children do not enjoy access to education that isspecifically designed for their needs, taught in their languages or that reflectstheir world views. In many indigenous communities, education is inseparablefrom culture, economy, family and survival. 24Most formal education systems do not employ community-based or indigenousapproaches such as elders passing on traditional knowledge, or parents andother community members teaching children about the environment and theirrelationship with it.Indigenous education in San communities (Southern Africa)San communities in Southern Africa have been able to survive in a harshenvironment for generations depending upon their intimate knowledge ofthe environment and the animals that live in it. Such survival skills are not23Stavenhagen (2005a), 7, para. 15.24Hicks (2005), 9.138 | CHAPTER IV