Education is one of the main Millennium Development Goals, and is generally considered as the primary path towards achieving many of the others. “Education for all” is projected by UNESCO as the way forward toward the development of the society, and the empowerment of the individual.  However, the UNPFII observes that, for indigenous peoples, education is often “irrelevant.” Indigenous students frequently find they return to their communities with a formal education that is not suited to local economic options, and they remain unemployed in the national economy.

Do indigenous peoples have to choose between education that distances them from their culture and “deskills” them within local economies, or being “uneducated”?  Are there other choices?  How can indigenous peoples access and benefit from the formal education system, and also have their own competences, cultures, languages and livelihood strategies recognized and respected?  What is the purpose of education – and what kind of education do indigenous peoples have a right to?

This session will look at examples of working within the system: The establishment of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Centre for Sami Studies in Tromsø, and the San Research Centre in Gaborone, and North-South cooperation about capacity building. In addition, it will present a critical analysis of the global system, examining the possibilities of a platform for indigenous voices to recount experiences and develop new strategies.  Lastly, the workshop will draw the lines to the UN system.

Forum for development cooperation with indigenous peoples and The Centre for Sami Studies welcome all to the workshop!

Programme

Place: The Magerøy Seminar room, University College of Finnmark, Alta.

Torjer A. Olsen, Chair, Forum for development cooperation with indigenous peoples:
Introduction and welcome.

Jennifer Hays, Research Fellow, SOGIP - IIAC/LAIOS, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales:
Education for All and Indigenous Rights:  Educational solutions in the Foreseeable Future?

Bjørg Evjen, professor, The Centre for Sami Studies, University of Tromsø:
Bringing local knowledge to global understanding.

Sidsel Saugestad, professor, Dept. of archaeology and social anthropology, University of Tromsø:
Research on, with and by Indigenous peoples. Trying out a model in North-South cooperation.

Kanyinke Sena, member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:
Education and indigenous people in the UN context.

Panel talk