Higher Education and Indigenous Nationalities: Challenges for Inclusion in the Ecuadorian Amazonian Region

Abstract

The new constitution of Ecuador gives importance to the less privileged social sectors such as indigenous peoples having access to Higher Education, thus responding to the claims of these individuals and their leaders. However, the example of the Universidad Estatal Amazónica (UEA), a university of the Ecuatorian Amazonian region, suggests that a bias exists against the access of indigenous students, due to multiple factors. Results of an empirical study with recently admitted students of this university indicate that indigenous students have more difficulties in passing the admissions test known as the National Higher Education Exam (ENES by its Spanish acronym) of the Secretary of Higher Education (SENESCYT), due to a less than perfect knowledge of the Spanish language which generally is not their mother tongue, not having access to specific test preparatory materials focused on the main areas of this test (mainly language skills and mathematical-abstract skills), a lack of specific information technology skills necessary for this test, and an absence of a reliable IT infrastructure. In words of one student "many communities in the forest lack of material conditions and good level of education to have access to the University". Anxiety in situations of examination did not have significant effect on the exclusion of indigenous students. Beyond the biases which can be shown empirically, it is necessary to elucidate some basic questions about the access of indigenous people to Higher Education: Is it more important that young indigenous people have better access to Higher Education in order to access higher positions in mainstream society even when in conflict with their ancestral values, or is it more important that Higher Education leads to increased autonomy and strengthened indigenous communities?

Academic Achievement and Failure in University Studies: Motivational and Emotional Factors

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Herramientas pedagógicas innovadoras en el Recinto “Urania Montás”, San Juan de la Maguana, República Dominicana.

“…Sin embargo, en el contexto de las Ruedas Vinculantes, aplicadas, se posibilitó que los jóvenes comenzaran a hablar de sus problemas personales, y encontraran espacios vinculantes con sus pares al ver que otros tienen problemas similares. De acuerdo con Gutiérrez et al (2015), "esto es percibido como el alivio de una carga, y se puede esperar que la TCI tenga impactos positivos dentro del sistema de educación universitario, en la salud…”

Design of an industrial process focused on the elaboration of cosmetics using Amazonian vegetal oils: a biotrade opportunity

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