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Addressee: Member States
Paragraph Number: 19
Session: 12 (2013)
Full Text:
Indigenous persons with disabilities face exceptionally difficult barriers both because they are indigenous and because they are disabled. The Permanent Forum recommends that States develop and provide full access to educational opportunities on an equitable basis and without discrimination for indigenous persons, as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In particular, the Forum recommends that sign language education curricula be developed, in consultation with deaf indigenous persons, which reflect their cultures, issues, needs and preferences. Where there is State or international cooperation on education, indigenous persons with disabilities should be included. The Forum recommends that countries that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities do so urgently.
Area of Work: Education
Addressee: Member States
Paragraph Number: 19
Session: 3 (2004)
Full Text:
Member States should consider the adoption and full implementation of comprehensive national indigenous education policies based on the following goals:
Participation:
a) Establishing effective arrangements for the participation of indigenous parents and community members in decisions regarding the planning, delivery and evaluation of education services for their children, young people and other community members;
b) Increasing the number of indigenous people employed as educational administrators, teachers, coaches, officials, curriculum advisers, teacher’s assistants, home-school liaison officers and other education workers, including community members engaged in teaching indigenous culture, history and contemporary society, and indigenous languages;
c) Developing arrangements for the provision of independent advice from indigenous communities regarding educational decisions at all levels;
d) Achieving the participation of indigenous children, young people and adults in education for a period similar to that of other students;
Access:
e) Ensuring that indigenous children, young people and adults have access to all levels of education (including adult education) on a basis comparable to that available to other citizens;
Attainment:
f) Enabling indigenous students to attain skills and graduation rates up to the same standard as other students throughout the compulsory and non-compulsory schooling years;
g) Developing teaching forms and curricula based on mother tongue (additive learning) in primary and secondary education (should be mandatory in order to achieve goal (f) above);
h) Developing curricula for both primary and secondary education which reflect the insights and usefulness of indigenous knowledge systems and are sensitive to indigenous values. Curricula should:
i) Incorporate indigenous histories, traditional knowledge and spiritual values;
ii) Integrate indigenous oral traditions, myths and writings, acknowledging these as unique parts of world heritage;
Indigenous languages, proficiency in the national language, literacy and numeracy :
i) Developing programmes based on the child’s mother tongue (first language) as a foundation for learning and aiming at the maintenance and continued use of indigenous languages;
j) Enabling the attainment of proficiency in the commonly used national language and at least one international language, and numeracy competencies by all indigenous students, including indigenous adults, giving particular attention to indigenous women based on the framework of the United Nations Decade of Literacy;
Capacity-building:
k) Providing community education services which will enable indigenous peoples to develop the skills to manage the development of their communities;
l) Providing education and training services to develop the skills of indigenous people to participate in educational decision-making;
Appreciation, understanding and respect for indigenous cultures:
m) Enabling all students, both indigenous and non-indigenous, at all levels of education, to have an appreciation and understanding of and respect for traditional and contemporary indigenous histories, cultures and identities;
Anti-racism strategies:
n) Promoting anti-racism education, including strategies to empower young people to deal with racism in the compulsory schooling curriculum;
Cultural, social and economic development in education:
o) Indigenous peoples should be resourced and supported to establish their own education systems, including schools, should they so choose. Also, traditional indigenous education and its structures should be respected and supported;
Education for indigenous peoples in custody or detention:
p) Given the overrepresentation of indigenous youth and adults in detention, the Forum urges States to consider culturally relevant and appropriate education for indigenous peoples in detention centres;
q) The Forum asks that education plans, programmes and policies be implemented especially for indigenous girls, boys and women.
Area of Work: Education
