Bilingual ethnoeducation: constitutional norm and terms and challenge for ethnicities

Abstract

The Colombian ethnic groups got the recognition from the State as people with own culture and language. It happens through the “Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991”. This document has some articles that deal with the ethnic groups’ presence in the country, language diversity, ethnic and bilingual education, the government responsibility on ethnic culture and education, among other articles that supports these facts; the ethnic groups got laws that protect their rights after fights developed during the last decades. However, the constitutional law doesn’t represent the Colombian ethnic and language reality and it make difficult actions to permit the enjoyment of the ethnic rights. Even thought, the constitutional law is imperfect the ethnic groups must demand the ethnic and bilingual education, because it is an achievements got from them. Nonetheless, the ethnic groups must continue with the fight to demand laws that protect them. So, the ethnics groups have to take on the ethnic and bilingual education challenges according with their socio-historic project and the constitutional warranties.