Indigenous Education Latin America
Poverty a Factor of Indigenous Children Scoring Lower on Tests
Most Indigenous children have a lower quality of education and health care. Poverty and the fact that many of them have to work out of necessity are other disadvantages.
There’s between 22 and 37 million Indigenous people living in Latin America and many of them live in poverty. One of the biggest factors contributing to their disadvantaged position is lack of quality schooling. Indigenous students score much lower on tests than non-Indigenous students, but why is that?
- In Guatemala Indigenous people have had half the years of schooling as non-Indigenous people.
- In Mexico adult Indigenous people have had an average of three years of schooling compared to six years of schooling for non-Indigenous people.
- In Peru Indigenous adults average six years of schooling while non-Indigenous average nine.
Other factors that put Indigenous people at a disadvantage:
Environment.
- Because many parents do not have high levels of education, there is not always a lot of reading material at home. Indigenous students are 30 to 45% less likely to have a Spanish or math textbook at home. Higher literacy levels are associated with higher incomes.
A large percentage of Indigenous children work when they get home which also affects their schooling. In Guatemala, 24% of children work while only 16% of non-Indigenous children work. Poverty is one of the reasons many children work but there is also a positive stigma on children working in some Indigenous cultures. Regardless, it cuts into their study time.
Language
- Even in schools that are specifically for Indigenous children, bilingual education is poorly implemented. In rural areas, there are not as many Indigenous children who can speak Spanish. In Guatemala 40% of the population speaks one of 20 Mayan languages and 3 out of 4 of them live in rural areas. Half of them are employed in agriculture. The failure to accommodate language differences contributes to the quality of Indigenous people’s education, as they clearly cannot learn properly if taught in an unknown language.
Health Care
- Lack of access to proper health care affects education. A simple thing like an eye exam would make a significant impact on their quality of education and test scores. Malnutrition in both parents and children also puts them at a disadvantage.
Quality of School
- Indigenous schools tend to have teachers with less experience and less education. Students describe conditions in some of these schools as bad. Supplies such as textbooks are lacking.
If higher quality education and health care were made a priority for Indigenous children, it would give them a chance to get out of poverty. They should have access to better bilingual education as well as properly trained teachers.
Resources: World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, August 2006 (Quality of Schooling and Quality of Schools for Indigenous Students in Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, Martha Hernandez-Zavala, Harry Anthony Patrinos, Chris Sakellariou, Joseph Shapiro)
