The Ministry of Education and eight representative organizations of indigenous peoples approved on March 13 a consensus-based consultation plan for the National Policy on Intercultural Bilingual Education to 2040. The agreement was reached during a meeting held in Lima from March 11 to 13.
This development is significant as it marks a step forward in ensuring the right to prior consultation for indigenous or native peoples regarding educational policies that affect them. The process aims to secure agreement or consent from these communities on the new version of the education policy, which seeks to guarantee culturally and linguistically relevant services nationwide.
Erfurt Castillo, Minister of Education, said that approving this document is an important milestone in exercising collective rights. “It reaffirms the State’s willingness to engage in dialogue and reach consensus with indigenous peoples, and guarantees appropriate conditions for intercultural dialogue, in accordance with Law No. 29785 on Prior Consultation and ILO Convention No. 169,” Castillo said.
The approved plan outlines agreements on scheduling, activities, locations, participants, and roles at each stage of the process. It also details approaches, working methodology, forms of participation, and mechanisms for disseminating information and addressing questions. Organizations participating included those listed in the Database of Indigenous or Native Peoples (BDPI), such as the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP), Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru (CONAP), Peasant Confederation of Peru (CCP), National Agrarian Confederation (CNA), National Union of Aymara Communities (UNCA), National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP), National Federation of Peasant, Artisan, Indigenous, Native and Wage-Earning Women of Peru (FENMUCARINAP), and Central Unique National Federation of Peasant Patrols of Peru (CUNARC-P).
According to regulations under the Law on Prior Consultation, the next step will be publicizing the measure by formally delivering the proposed policy to representatives of indigenous peoples. This proposal includes analysis of public issues, desired future situations, objectives, guidelines, services, and operational activities.
The General Law on Education states that “Intercultural Bilingual Education must be offered throughout the educational system; it promotes appreciation and enrichment of one’s own culture, respect for cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and awareness about rights among indigenous peoples as well as other national or foreign communities.”
