BRIEFS: Education

Meduca seeks indigenous language teachers

DAVID MESA/LA PRENSA

skills:A new program set to introduce indigenous languages into the curriculum at certain schools will require 500 teachers. 1053467

The Ministerio de Educación (Meduca) has extended the interviewing process for teachers who aspire to an position in regions inhabited by the country’s indigenous populations.

Prospective teachers are also being tested for knowledge of indigenous languages, as part of Meduca’s program to integrate these languages into the public school curriculum in certain regions. Meduca hopes to recruit around 500 educators for preschool, elementary and high schools across the country.

A recent report indicated that educators with mastery of an indigenous language have an advantage over those who do not in obtaining a post at schools in territories where indigenous people predominate.

There are upwards of 285,000 indigenous people in Panama, distributed among a variety of groups, such as the Ngöbe-Buglé, Emberá, Wounan, Naso and Bri Bri, each with their respective languages and cultures, according to a 2000 census.