Ecuador's bilingual education policy

Ecuador is a country of racial and ethnic diversity. Its 1982 census recorded a population of roughly 8 million residents. Approximately four million people inhabited the coastal region, another four million live in the highlands, over 300,000 inhabit the oriental region, and approximately 6,000 reside in the Galapagos Islands. The largest ethnic category is the mestizo groups consisting of those of Spanish and Indian descent. Indians are 25 percent of the population, whites 20 percent, and blacks 4 percent (Swett and Toral, 1988, p. 239).

The Ecuadorian mestizo groups comprise 51 percent of the population (Swett and Toral, 1988, p. 239). The socio-ethnic category "mestizo" implies that a person is a social product of "espanoles" and "nativos." Therefore, a mestizo does n

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arts of the country, the Spanish and Quechua languages are being consolidated, rules of written syntax are being established, and new literary styles are developing (Yanez Cossio, 1991, p. 64). Critics warn that the success of the "Macac" model would require a social revolution and unprecedented cooperation from the dominant, Spanish-speaking society. Supporters of the "Macac" model insist that such a social revolution is necessary "to meet the aspirations of the indigenous peoples, and to permit the integrated development of the country as a whole" (p. 61). The success of the "Macac" program in Ecuador is critical because a significant portion of that country's rural population is excluded from education. Therefore, the educational component of the "Macac" program focuses on youths between the ages of 10 and 15 years. Education is not universal in Ecuador. The most recent data indicates that 25 percent of children aged 6-12 do not attend school. The proportion is higher in rural areas (40 percent) and lower in urban areas (10 percent). Grades 1-6 experience a dropout rate of 57 percent, with the rural rate (75 percent) much higher than the urban rate (33 percent). The government began making concerted efforts to stren
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Approximate Word count = 1900
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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