Mérida, Yucatán – The Yucatán State Congress will permanently teach a Mayan language course to all its officials and employees. For the time being, at least six of the 25 representatives of the current legislature have committed to take the course “to improve the attention to the Mayan-speaking population”. With this course, the Legislative Branch of Yucatan will become the first in the country to adopt a program and offer services in an indigenous language.
“We are making history with this course, whose objective is to train Mayan-speaking public servants, in order to have more effective communication with the inhabitants of the communities that visit the Legislative precinct,” said Congresswoman Melba Gamboa Ávila, who promoted the program.
The legislator, who is a Mayan speaker, emphasized that this action is the first step towards the institutionalization of the teaching of the Mayan language, since the course is aimed at the staff and is intended to be part of the Annual Training Program of the State Congress.
The congresswoman indicated that she hopes that other public institutions will follow the same path, since the objective is to have full and effective communication between the government and the Mayan communities.
Melba Gamboa promoted the Mayan language course.
For his part, the president of the Board of Directors of the State Congress, Erik Rihani Gonzalez stressed that learning the Mayan language plays a fundamental role since, according to INEGI, we are the third state in the country in which an indigenous language is spoken the most.
The legislator added that they have the conviction that every person who comes to the congress in search of help can return home with solutions and with the peace of mind that in this precinct they are there to accompany them. “For this, it is crucial that those who work here can communicate with any of these people, regardless of the language they speak,” he said.
Mario Maldonado Espinosa, Director of the Institute of Legislative Research of the Congress, pointed out that this course is unique at national level and it is intended to become a law, so that at each change of Legislature the obligation to give such courses remains, so that employees and officials are constantly being prepared.
In addition to Melba Gamboa and Eric Rihani, PAN representatives Karen Achach Ramírez, Pilar Santos Díaz and Raúl Romero Chel committed to take the Mayan language course.
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