The Higher Technical Degree Program in Intercultural Bilingual Education at UNSE: Challenges of a University Program Focused on an Indigenous Language

Abstract

The situation of the Quichua language in the educational field varies greatly among Quichua-speaking countries. States such as Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia have been carrying out educational experiences for many years, which has made it possible to conduct evaluations and, in some cases, to reconsider these educational proposals.

The same cannot be said of the Argentine Republic. Different situations have prevented or hindered the development of educational plans in this language: a racist and discriminatory conception of language; the narrow scope of academic research on Indigenous languages; the circulation of inadequate and obsolete bibliographic material; Europeanizing educational policies rooted for more than a century; the limited encouragement of higher education in sociolinguistics; and the lack of scientific definition regarding the object, theories, and teaching methods related to Indigenous languages.

Although significant progress has been made at the national level in legislation concerning Indigenous Peoples, with regard to education many of these laws, resolutions, and decrees end up becoming dead letters. However, in the past year, those of us devoted to the research and study of the Quichua language have seen with great satisfaction the creation of the Higher Technical Degree Program in IBE (Intercultural Bilingual Education), with a specialization in Quichua Language, a program that began to be offered in 2012 at the National University of Santiago del Estero (UNSE).

In this paper, I will carry out an analysis and present the scope and initial results of this valuable experience.