THE UNIVERSITY OF THE AUTONOMOUS REGIONS OF THE NICARAGUAN CARIBBEAN COAST URACCAN

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE AUTONOMOUS REGIONS OF THE
NICARAGUAN CARIBBEAN COASTURACCAN

• Towards the Practice of Interculturality
• in the Multicultural Setting of the Nicaraguan
  Caribbean Coast
• Oslo, Norway March/April 2006

Guillermo Mc Lean Linguistics Research and
Culture Revitalization Institute IPILC - URACCAN
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NICARAGUA A Multiethnic Nation

• Some basic factsabout the country
• Location Central America south of Honduras and
  Noth of Costa Rica between the Pacific and
  Atlantic Oceans
• Size 138, 000 plus square kilometers
• Population Approx. 5.5 million people
• Political status Defined by the Constitution
  (1985 1995 2000) as a multiethnic nation (with
  an autonomous government regime within- since
  1985).
• Socio-economic standing Second poorest country
  in Latin America- after Honduras

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The Caribbean Coast

• - A multiethnic, multilingual and
  multicultural region
• Six ethnic groups sumu-mayangnas Miskitoes
  Ramas, Garifunas, Creoles, Mestizos
• 50 plus of national territory- yet only 10 of
  the countrys population home to the better
  resources forestry, mining and sea products- but
  the poorest region of the country.
• Some of the major problems
• A region three times colonized by foreigners
• Unequal socio-economic relationships between
  societes
• Lowest level of literacy in the country (2.1
  years vs. 6.6)
• monolingual education system imposed for a 100
  years
• Rapid, unstoppable growth of agricultural
  frontier

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Simplified Ethnolingüístic Hierarchy of the
Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (Norwood, 1985)
MESTIZOS (Spanish)

• CREOLES
• (English/Creole, Spanish)

MISKITOES (Miskitu)
RAMAS (Creole, Rama)
GARIFUNAS (Creole, Garífuna)
SUMU-MAYANGNAS (Panamahka, Twahka,
Ulwa)
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Hierarchy of Multilingualism on the Nicaraguan
Caribbean Coast (based on Norwood, 1985).

• Ethnic identification Languages required to
  speak
•  
• Mestizos Spanish
•  
• Creoles English/Creole Spanish
•  
• Miskitoes Miskitu Spanish Creole/English
•  
• Sumo-Maya Sumu Miskitu Spanish
  (Creole/English)

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Law of Autonomy and the University

• In 1987 the Law of Autonomy (Law No. 28) was
  approved by the National Assembly
• Law 28 granted the Coast the right to education
  in their own languages, their own system of
  health and the sustainable exploitation of their
  natural resources
• Higher education became a need in the context of
  the new law the human resources needed to
  enhance development and consolidate the process
  of Autonomy had to be trained

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Four Campuses
Establishment of URACCAN in

• Siuna
• Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas)
• Bluefields
• Nueva Guinea

Six Extension programs

• Rosita
• Bonanza
• Waslala

• Waspam
• Pearl Lagoon Basin
• Desembocadura de Río Grande

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE AUTONOMOUS REGIONS OF THE
NICARAGUAN CARIBBEAN COAST URACCAN
University Campuses
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Why four campuses?

• To avoid brain drain of human resources from the
  communities and from the country
• To be accessible to as many people as possible in
  the Autonomous Regions
• Because people in the communities do not have the
  resources to come to the University the
  University has to come to them
• Because distances within the Regions are far and
  complex and communication is difficult

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URACCAN An Intercultural University

• URACCAN is defined as the Intercultural
  University of the indigenous peoples and ethnic
  communities of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast
  that contributes to strengthening of Regional
  Autonomy by accompanying processes of
  self-development, multiethnic unity and integral
  training of the men and women in the Region.

Intercultural
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Interculturality a dialogue between/within
cultures

• Interculturality must be
• a process of dialogue whereby mutual knowledge
  between cultures leads to understanding, respect,
  harmony, solidarity and fair exchange
• recognition of the other within the framework of
  diversity
• a process based on intention and good will
• a political decision based on a state of
  awarenesss
• a commitment of human beings to help erradicate
  social unjustice
• the practice of democracy between peoples and
  cultures
• THE BUILDING OF ROOM AND OPPORTUNITIES, SO THAT
  THE RIGHTS OF AUTONOMY CAN BE FULLY EXERCISED

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What about the conditions of the dialogue?

• As pointed out by Fornet-Betancourt (2000), the
  most important thing, as we speak of
  interculturality, are the factual conditions of
  the dialogue. He goes on to suggests that we
  must take into account the historical context in
  which the dialogue takes place.
•  
• Do not start by the dialogue itself- he contends
  -but rather by the question about the conditions
  of the dialogue...
• We must demand that the dialogue of the cultures
  be from the start a dialogue about social,
  economic and political factors that currently
  condition the fair exchange between the different
  cultures of humankind .
•  

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Basic principles of URACCAN

• The University must reach the communities- where
  the men and women that make the local decisions
  live to achieve this goal, a de-centralized
  model of education is required
• It should make education available for all those
  who aspire to it
• It must contribute to the strengthening of
  identity, while promoting unity between the
  different societies
• It must become a Community University of Public
  Service

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Mission of URACCAN

• To contribute to the strengthening of Autonomy by
  training the human resources in the Region and
  for the Region by making room for the
  development of knowledge, skills and attitudes in
  order to preserve our natural resources while
  promoting sustainability and creating local
  capacity so that the full exercise of our human,
  indigenous and autonomic rights can be fulfilled.
•  

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Visión de URACCAN

• Our Vision is to be The intercultural
  University of the Indigenous peoples and ethnic
  communities of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast
  that contributes to the consolidation of
  Autonomy, through processes of self-development,
  local capacity building and the integral
  formation of Coast men and women.

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Institutes and Research Centers of URACCAN

• IPILC Promotes linguistics research and
  revitalization of culture supports the regional
  Councils in promoting language policies
• IREMADES Deals with preservation and sustainable
  development of natural resources and the
  promotion of environmental policies
• IMTRADEC Has to do with traditional medicine and
  community development
• IEPA Promotes Autonomy particularly in the
  context of Indigenous rights
• ICI The Institute of Intercultural
  Communication
• CEIIM The Center of Studies of Multiethnic and
  Indigenous Women
• CISA The Socio-Environmental Research Center

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Community Schools of Leadership the cases of the
Pearl Lagoon Basin and Bilwi

• Objectives
• Provide new opportunities to higher education
  for young men and women in the communities who
  didnt have access to a high school education
• Develop leadership and local capacity that will
  stay in the communities as better-qualified human
  resources
• Help improve the conditions of living of the
  communities involved
• Help find alternatives to the situation of
  poverty and marginalization
• Increase the coverage of URACCAN in the
  communities

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Regional Autononomous Educational System
SEAR
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Objetives of the SEAR

• To promote intercultural relationships within the
  Region and within the country
• To train the human resources required for the
  full exercise of autonomical rights
• To better infrastructure, equiptments,
  bibliography and teaching materials
• To implement new methods and teaching approaches
  and innovative pedagocical practices
• To achieve a de-centralize and participatory
  implementation of the SEAR

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Objetives of the SEAR (Continued)

• To promote gender equity
• To promote a culture of peace and to erradicate
  violence in human relationships
• To contribute to the full exercise of the rights
  of children and adolescents

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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

• Autonomy

• Interculturality

• Equity

• Pertinence

• Quality

• Solidarity

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Legal framework of the SEAR at national level

• The Political Constitution (1985 1995 2000)

• The Law of Autonomy (1987)

• Decree of Law 571 (1980)- pertaining the
  education in the mother languages of the
  Communities of the Atlantic Coast

• National Plan of Education(2002)

• Law of Languages No. 162 (1993)

General Law of Education (2006)
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Legal framework of the SEAR at international
level

• Declaration of the United Nations about
  Indigenous Peoples (1994)
• Declaration of Indigenous Peoples -
  Organization of American States
• Agreement 169 of the International Labor
  Organization
• Resolutions and Recommendations of the
  Interamerican System of the Organization of
  American States

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Progress and Drawbacks in the Process of
Decentralization of the SEAR

• Letter of Intention between Regional Authorities
  and Ministry of Education signed (2003)
• Joint Commissions established and dialogue
  initiated (2004) dialogue characterize by
  frequent interruptions as of today
• Executive Structures for decentralized SEAR at
  regional and municipal level agreed upon, but not
  100 completed
• SEAR support structures (CERs, CEMs, CECs) in
  permanent process of consolidation
• General Law of Education passed by National
  Assembly (2006)
• Decentralization agreement not signed process
  not fully completed