Congresswoman Dunnia Montserrat Murillo López has introduced a bill on indigenous, intercultural, and plurilingual education aimed at harmonizing the Education Law of the State of Baja California with the General Education Law.
Baja California is a pluralistic entity, home to the indigenous peoples recognized by the State’s Law of Indigenous Rights and Culture including the Kiliwa, Kumiai, Pai Pai, Cucapá, and Cochimí as well as Afro-Mexican communities.
It also hosts a substantial population of migrant agricultural workers of indigenous origin, particularly concentrated in the San Quintín Valley region.
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Express Recognition to Ensure Visibility
Murillo López noted that expressly recognizing migrants and agricultural workers provides normative visibility to a student population that, due to the itinerant nature of their families’ work, faces heightened barriers to educational access, retention, and timely completion of their studies.
Accordingly, she proposed that Article 31 of the State Law be amended to read as follows:
Educational, Cultural, and Language Rights
The State shall guarantee the exercise of educational, cultural, and language rights to all indigenous persons, peoples, and communities, as well as to Afro-Mexican, migrant, and agricultural laborers, under conditions of inclusion, humanism, equity, equality of opportunity, pertinence, and non-discrimination.
Similarly, her initiative proposes that Article 32 be revised as follows:
Respect for Self-Determination
State educational authorities shall consult in good faith, in a prior, free, and informed manner, in accordance with applicable national and international legal provisions, whenever they anticipate educational measures affecting indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities, respecting their right to self-determination as established in Article 2 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
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To fulfill this mandate, the state educational authority shall coordinate with the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, the National Institute of Indigenous Languages, and the Commission for the Continuous Improvement of Education, as well as with their respective state-level representations or counterparts, to support consultation processes related to actions affecting indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities.
Consultation Follow-Up Committee
The State shall be obligated to establish a consultation follow-up committee composed of the traditional authorities of the indigenous peoples, in accordance with the State’s Law of Indigenous Rights and Culture, as well as representatives of the Afro-Mexican communities settled in the state, under the terms determined by the state educational authority.
Regarding Article 33 BIS, the initiative proposes the following: The State shall be obligated to document, research, and spread the oral and written traditions and ancestral knowledge of each indigenous and Afro-Mexican community settled in the state.
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Oral, Written, and Ancestral Traditions Identified
In fulfilling this duty, the traditional authorities of each indigenous people or community, recognized and protected under the State’s Law of Indigenous Rights and Culture, as well as representatives of Afro-Mexican communities, shall participate alongside their members and play a central role in identifying these oral and written traditions and ancestral knowledge, which shall not be limited to any single indigenous language.
Once these oral and written traditions, cultural knowledge, and wisdom have been identified, state and municipal educational authorities shall promote their inclusion as part of public education curricula within each indigenous and Afro-Mexican community.
