Institutionalizing intercultural education: The support program for indigenous students in the UAEMex

Abstract

In Mexico, 24 public and private universities –among them,Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México- have an academic support program for indigenous students. It has been more than a decade since its beginning, which makes us reflect about the obstacles faced and its effectiveness to decrease poverty or social vulnerability of this kind of groups due to education of their university students. Based on the acquired experience during the implementation of the program, it calls into question this attempt to make official the intercultural relationships through the higher education and this kind of support. At the same time it sparked off a debate in regard to the challenges that universities have to face up to design school models and plans of action focused on improve the quality of life of these disadvantaged sections of Mexican society.

Keywords

• Intercultural education
• Compensatory education
• Disadvantaged groups.