THE RIGHT TO INTERCULTURAL AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION: REFLECTION FROM HUMAN RIGHTS IN A TOTONAC PEOPLE

Abstract

The right to education is a fundamental human right, therefore, intercultural and bilingual education, seeks to include people in conditions of equality, non-discrimination, and respect. However, educational inequality persists in Mexico against the population of the native peoples. Generally, the national educational system does not consider cultural diversity, traditions, customs and practices, and native language in curricula. For this reason, the objective of this article is to reflect on the right to education, as a human right, and through a culturally determined interpretation scheme, to identify whether the education provided in elementary and upper middle schools of the Totonac people of Huehuetla, Puebla, is intercultural and bilingual. In conclusion, the right to education as a human right only has the declaratory legal character because the intercultural and bilingual approach is not applied, which generates exclusion of indigenous peoples and communities, in this case, of the Totonac population of the municipality of Huehuetla, Puebla.