With the aim of rescuing and preserving the region’s native language, the State Congress approved the following reform.
The Congress of Yucatan approved on Wednesday Dec. 4th, reforms to the Political Constitution of the State to establish the obligation to teach the Mayan language at the basic educational level statewide.
The reforms were approved unanimously and aims to rescue and preserve the native language of the region, as stated by local legislators during the explanatory session.
Before the ruling in favor, Congresswoman Paulina Viana Gómez said that, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), Yucatán is among the states with the highest proportion of indigenous population, with about 30 percent of the total.
Similarly, the Institute indicated that this entity has the highest percentage of native language speakers in the country, with more than 570,000 Maya speaking people.
“However, it is important to point out that the percentage of people who speak the Maya language in the state has been falling steadily and drastically in recent years,” he warned.
This is due to the lack of interest in implementing public policies that rescue and strengthen our mother tongue.
The constitutional changes approved by all political forces in the state Congress seek to establish in the basic educational system the conditions and procedures to rescue, promote and preserve the native language of Yucatan.
The reform is compatible with the provisions of article 28, paragraph 3, of Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Independent Countries of the International Labour Organization.
Similarly, article 2, paragraph B, subparagraph 2, of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
The law will enter into force once it is published in the Official State Gazette, however, this new regulation will not be applied immediately, but gradually and under the coordination of the Yucatan State Ministry of Education.
The Yucatan Times
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