January 2021 – Eco-cultural pluralism in Ecuadorian Amazonia

Text: Tuija Veintie, Photo: Comunicación Confeniae

The Federation of the Shuar Nationality of Pastaza (FENASH-P) declared a state of emergency in education.

People gathered for the assembly in Tsuraku, Pastaza.

On 20 January 2021, the FENASH-P organized an emergency assembly to discuss and bring forward the untenable educational situation in the Shuar territory. The event gathered together people from 34 Shuar communities in Pastaza.

The Shuar Federation together with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazonian (CONFENIAE) state that intercultural bilingual schools in the Shuar territory in Pastaza lack adequate infrastructure, educational materials and even teachers, and the pandemic has seriously aggravated the educational inequality. The emergency assembly set an agenda for the necessary improvements in education in the Shuar territory: Continue reading “Educational emergency in the Shuar territory”

Text: Nathaly Pinto

The year started with immense worries regarding the current situation of students in the amazon region. Marlon Vargas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazonian (CONFENIAE) expressed:

The organization is deeply concerned about the situation of education of the peoples and nationalities of Ecuador, as well as the peasant and proletarian sectors of the country for whom the right to education has become a privilege by not being able to access.

In a public declaration, shared on January 8, 2021 CONFENIAE’s anticipating the International Day of Education (an annual international observance day dedicated to education), Vargas highlighted how by prioritizing virtual education in the context of COVID–19, the Ministry of Education excluded indigenous girls, boys and teenagers from education, by ignoring the amazonic geographical contexts, lack of proper infrastructure and social inequities in the region.

Continue reading “Educational situation in the Amazon at the start of the year”