Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

0120CHAPTER 3Education for All Global Monitoring ReportIn parts of Peru,many teachers inbilingual schoolscan not speak thelocal indigenouslanguageBreaking long-established institutional patternsis difficult. This is true even in countries withgovernments that acknowledge the disadvantagesethnic minorities face, as the experience ofViet Nam shows (Box 3.7). In Latin America, mostcountries have intercultural bilingual educationpolicies, some of them dating from the 1920s.Today, such programmes aim at incorporatingindigenous languages into national educationsystems by giving children a chance to learn intheir home language before moving on to Spanish.Despite some significant achievements, however,these programmes face major challenges inseveral countries:Limited coverage. Many indigenous childrendo not have access to intercultural bilingualeducation. In Guatemala and Paraguay,legislation provides for bilingual education injust the first three grades of primary schooland, in reality, children are often taught onlyin Spanish. In Guatemala, 74% of childrenaged 7 to 12 years were reported as receivingclasses only in the Spanish language in 2006(López, 2009). In Peru, only around 10% ofindigenous children attend interculturalbilingual schools. Coverage is far lower inurban than in rural areas (Cueto et al., 2009).Poor quality. Where indigenous languageteaching is available, it is often of poor quality,with schooling compounding disadvantageslinked to social and economic deprivation.Of about 900 teachers working in indigenouscommunities in Paraguay, a third have completedonly basic education and fewer than two-thirdsreport speaking the local language (López, 2009).In Peru, which has been implementing theintercultural and bilingual model since 1972,one study in the south of the country found thathalf of teachers in intercultural and bilingualeducation schools could not even speak thelocal indigenous language. Moreover, bilingualmaterials provided by the Ministry of Educationwere not being used (Cueto et al., 2009).Limited scope. Intercultural bilingual educationfocuses on more effective integration ofindigenous children into mainstream education.For many indigenous groups this objective istoo limited. In several countries, indigenouspolitical movements have mobilized behinddemands for education reforms and forcurriculum content that focuses on widerpolitical concerns. In Bolivia, indigenouseducation councils have been pressing for a neweducation law that emphasizes multiculturalism,ethnic diversity and the values of indigenousculture. In Guatemala, where indigenouspeople’s rights were brutally suppressed duringthe civil war, the period since the Peace Accordsin 1995 has been marked by the development ofa vigorous Mayan political movement focusing onlanguage as one element in a broader campaignagainst discrimination. In both countries, manyindigenous political leaders are looking tostrengthen intercultural education to addressdeeper problems of discrimination and inequality,Box 3.7: Tackling the ethnic divide in Viet NamThe government of Viet Nam recognizes thatproblems facing ethnic minorities are a major barrierto universal primary education. It has established anextensive system of financial transfers targeted athouseholds and communes with large minoritypopulations. A 1999 law allowing minority languagesto be used in education recognizes the importanceof home language.Implementing that law has proved difficult, however.Part of the problem is a serious shortage of ethnicminority teachers. While ethnic minority childrenaccount for 18% of the primary school age population,ethnic minority teachers make up just 8% of theteaching force. Moreover, few of these teachers areposted to ethnic minority areas. And not all have thetraining or experience to teach bilingual education.As a result, Kinh remains the dominant languageof instruction for most ethnic minority children.Demographic factors also appear to have animportant bearing on the language of instruction.Analysis undertaken for this Report compared homelanguage education in Lao Cai, a mountainousnorthern province with a large ethnic minoritypopulation, with that in Phu Yen, a south-centralcoastal province in which ethnic minorities accountfor just 5% of the population. Minority groups inPhu Yen have far less access to home languagecourses, partly because their children attendoverwhelmingly Kinh-dominated schools.Sources: Truong Huyen (2009); World Bank (2009d);UNESCO-DME (2009).174