[0:17]Indigenous communities represent 3.9% of the population in Colombia. Considering there are around 48.2 million people in Colombia, 1.2 million of them would be part of an indigenous group. This is a lot of people.
[0:36]In recent years, the Colombian government has promised indigenous communities many programs in order to help them vitalize their culture. But the reality is completely different, since most indigenous initiatives are promoted by non-governmental organizations or even the same communities, not by the Colombian government. Even though indigenous communities have fortunately gained more participation in Colombia, the segregation and oppression to native groups is still a reality in the country. Thus, in order to protect indigenous communities under culture, it is necessary to provide assistance and help, and language could be a key for diminishing this issue that disturbs so many innocent lives in Colombia.
[1:24]There are various issues in respect of education for indigenous groups in Colombia. One of the main issues indigenous communities have had to deal with over time is the language barrier between their mother tongues and Spanish, the predominant language in Colombia. This situation leads us to probably the biggest issue of education for indigenous groups in the country, communication. When indigenous communities emigrate from their homelands to cities and towns, they are forced to confront problems like getting to where they want to go, buying clothes, and even ordering food at the restaurant or shopping at the market. All of these because they don't speak Spanish, like most people in Colombia does, to not being able to properly communicate with others. Naturally, while there are some specific communities that are willing to learn Spanish, there are others that are not interested in learning the language, or they just don't see an advantage on doing so. And it is important to respect their decision. However, regarding the ones enthusiastic to learn languages other than their mother tongue, it is necessary to make sure they have the opportunities to do so. Now, talking about opportunities means ensuring not only quality education for indigenous communities, but also essential assets such as energy supply, water and sewage system, natural gas, refuse collection and Internet coverage, in which these ethnic groups fall behind from the rest of the population in Colombia. It is crucial to guarantee ethnic groups can access quality education easily. Yet, another issue is discrimination. Yes, they are also discriminated because of their language.
[3:37]Yo soy un niño Wiwa, que estoy estudiando acá en un pueblo cercano llamado La Mina, estudio sexto de primaria. De La Mina acá me echo, si vengo muy pesado me echo hora y media. Allá me dicen si sé hablar Wiwa, pero yo le digo que no, porque ya somos Wiwa. How can we advance if we still have forms of bigotry against indigenous groups? For this reason, even more, the government must act on the matter, allowing indigenous people to feel confident and safe in every environment and context. Now, going back to education, the main aspect of this video, it is imperative to focus on such matter because present and future indigenous generations will be crucial to make a link between them and the rest of Colombia. Curriculum guidelines to basic learning rights, the needs of indigenous people are not considered to the neglect of the context they live in. And this is where ethno education comes in. The implementation of the system of ethno education, which could be defined as a set of strategies to teach considering the culture and beliefs of ethnic communities, is an approach to pedagogy that aims to narrow the gap between indigenous people and the rest of Colombia.
[5:11]One of the main problems of education for indigenous communities in the country is that the system often overlooks the needs of these groups. Communities must have a considerable influence in the development of materials and models of learning. This way, the education system will be considering the specific context of every indigenous group, making them feel not only more comfortable about education, but also willing to learn useful things for their daily life. For example, most indigenous students would consider learning about nature more valuable than mathematics, since the former makes part of their idiosyncrasy, their culture, and beliefs. This way, ethno education contemplates what is relevant for ethnic groups, indigenous communities, in this case, to learn. Moreover, this academic and cultural knowledge relationship allows a student to relate what is learned in the classroom with their activities outside of the school and vice versa. Entonces, esa forma de que nos ofrece la naturaleza es que estamos llevando a nuestros niños a que aprendamos a leer, a interpretar lo que hace la naturaleza con nosotros para que nosotros también lo aprendamos a convivir y a llevarlo a la práctica dentro de las aulas y dentro de la comunidad. Now that we have analyzed some of the many issues indigenous groups have to face in terms of language barriers, let us think about how we can contribute to the reinforcement of multilingual education for ethnic communities.
[6:55]What can we do to solve the obstacles of teaching language to indigenous groups? From problems of inclusion, such as rejection because of their mother tongue, to educational problems, there are many troubles in multilingual education for indigenous communities. Furthermore, as is well known, some of those communities are losing speakers of their language, since they feel pressure to learn Spanish and forget their language, their native language. In conclusion, it is fundamental that the government keeps up with the programs and the help they have agreed on providing, and make significant efforts for those communities who have difficulties adapting to the modern era. Moreover, we need to educate people and instill values about the inclusion of these communities in our society, teaching that we can all live together, and we can learn about other cultures. Hopefully, with Gustavo Petro's government, ethno education will take a path towards actual measures to achieve inclusion and ensure quality education for indigenous communities in Colombia.
