Multilingual education, the bet to preserve indigenous languages and justice

Studies highlight that using students’ mother tongues in education removes barriers and promotes better learning outcomes, self-esteem, and critical thinking skills.

Only a few hundred languages truly fit into educational systems and the public domain, and fewer than a hundred are used in the digital world. Currently, 40% of the world’s population lacks access to education in their mother tongue, but exceeds 90% in certain regions.

The Catalog of National Indigenous Languages identifies 364 languages or linguistic variants in Mexico, 68 linguistic groups, and 11 linguistic families. Although there are textbooks in indigenous languages and education is supposed to be bilingual and bicultural, it is only a reality for a part of the population.

“Bilingual and bicultural education is only for the indigenous population, they are the ones who have to be bilingual and bicultural, and often schools are functioning as castilianizing models,” emphasized Adrián Moreno, the linguist who participated in the documentary.

In Mexico, education often does not prioritize indigenous language teaching and strengthening because of cultural and linguistic detachment, added the expert.