WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says the intercultural bilingual education program JADENKÄ, used to help indigenous students in Latin America and the Caribbean learn early mathematics in their native languages, has been awarded one of the most global awards in educational topic
IDB said it had received the Khalifa International Early Learning Award, describing Ari Taen JADENKÄ as a model of intercultural bilingual education for indigenous students to learn while connecting with their ancestral heritage and closing learning gaps.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, indigenous students have significant learning gaps compared to their non-indigenous peers,” the IDB said, noting the program evaluation shows improvements equivalent to over half a school year of mathematics learning without adding additional instruction time, with accompanying improvements in teacher competencies and benefits to students’ cultural identity.
JADENKÄ emerged as part of a collaboration between the IDB, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Ministry of Education, and Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA). The initiative recognized by Khalifa as the “Best Programme, Curriculum, Methodology, and Teaching Practice” was financed by the Japanese Trust Funds at the IDB.
“The initiative is an innovative solution to address one of the challenges faced by indigenous schools in Latin America and the Caribbean: the shortage of teachers and limited training in pedagogical skills and knowledge of indigenous culture and language necessary to provide quality intercultural bilingual education,” the IDB added.
Head of Education at the IDB, Mercedes Mateo, said that Khalifa must give the International Early Learning Award to an intercultural bilingual education model for preschoolers.
“This program demonstrates that it is possible to reduce the academic performance gap, and therefore one of the many inequalities in the region, without forcing students to choose between their academic learning and their cultural and linguistic identity,” said Mateo.
JADENKÄ is the world’s first randomized experiment in intercultural bilingual mathematics education at the preschool level.
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