OUVIDORIA
Amazonas State University (UEA), powered by the State Government, has just graduated 34 Indigenous teachers from the Intercultural Pedagogy course in Javari Valley region, in Amazonas State, Brazil. UEA is the countrys first institution to offer this kind of undergraduate course. The degree awarding ceremony took place on the evening of December 16th, in the town of Atalaia do Norte (distant 1,136 kilometers as the crow flies from Manaus, the states capital).
The now graduates belong to Marubo, Matis, Matses and Kanamari ethnicities scattered throughout the Indigenous land of Javari Valley, located in the tri-border region (Brazil, Peru and Colombia), where the largest number of Indigenous groups live in voluntary isolation from the world.
The Graduation Ceremony was opened by the Vice-Rector, Dr. Kátia Couceiro, who represented the Rector Dr. André Zogahib. Accompanied by the Dean of Undergraduate Education, Dr. Raimundo Barradas, Couceiro attended the event expressing joy and emotion.
“Today is a celebration day. I do not remember, throughout my years as a professor at UEA, a moment as special and exciting as this one. It is very beautiful to see the joy stamped on the faces of all of you. We are graduating professionals who have dedicated themselves hard and who, from now on, will carry the name of UEA to their communities. This is our mission,” said the vice-rector.
During the ceremony, a video of the Rector André Zogahib was presented congratulating the class, all the coordinators and the 24 lecturers involved in the Intercultural Pedagogy course (four of them Indigenous). “It’s with great satisfaction that UEA trains 34 Indigenous teachers who will work in the communities of Javari Valley. They are professionals of the highest competence, of the highest quality, who will also provide services in their indigenous communities,” he said.
Pride
According to the Rector, UEA is very proud of this graduation. “Then, as Rector of UEA, I congratulate you for this accomplishment, for your dedication shown throughout the years studying Indigenous Intercultural Pedagogy at our university”, he gave emphasis to such emotion congratulating the graduates in the corresponding language of each ethnicity.
The pedagogues also did not hide their happiness and expectations: to grow in the embraced profession and further help their communities. For the graduate Walmir Marubo, from the Marubo ethnic group, completing his degree in pedagogy, at the age of 42, serves as motivation to continue working as a teacher.
Walmir comes from Liberdade Community, a location far from Atalaia do Norte, where he has been teaching young kids and teenagers for 18 years. “It was a great challenge to get this degree because the route to Atalaia do Norte is long and complicated. We are warriors for having faced all difficulties and acquired this important knowledge to help our people”, he said.
Empowerment
From the ethnicity Kanamari, José Ninha Tavares, 49, explains that the desire to want to be a teacher arose from the need that his people have in the area of Education. According to him, his non-indigenous knowledge is totally different from the reality of the communities, which ends up making learning more difficult.
“We need to value and strengthen what is ours, because the students need to understand, first of all, their own world to, then, discover new concepts. For this reason, it is important to assume the role of an educator”, pointed out Tavares, one of the most excited during the graduation ceremony.
No school dropout events
The Intercultural Indigenous Pedagogy course was coordinated by Dr. Célia Bettiol, who worked hard to prevent students from dropping out of school. Enabled by the National Plan for Elementary Education Teachers Training (PARFOR), this course is attached to the School of Education Sciences of the State of Amazonas University (ENS-UEA). Bettiol had the support of the Pedagogical Coordinator Dr. Ádria Duarte, the PARFOR Local Coordinator Zilma da Costa, and the course linguist Dr. Sanderson de Oliveira, who was chosen as the class patron. “There were no school dropout events. The course began with 35 students and finished with 34. Unfortunately, we lost one student during the Covid-19 pandemic”, Dr. Bettiol pointed out.
According to the Pedagogical Coordinator, the classes had emphasis on the native language of each ethnicity and on the use of Portuguese as a second language. Specific teaching material was used with the aim to highlight the strengthening of traditional knowledge.
“Indigenous schools need indigenous teachers. These schools are intercultural, bilingual, and ethnically specific. Thats why it is so important to have trained indigenous teachers who can take care of the pedagogical processes and make a difference in the sense of dialoguing the knowledge of society with the knowledge of their own people”, as Célia Bettiol added.
The graduation ceremony, which brought together graduates, their families and teachers, took place at the Professor Lucival Brotas gymnasium, and was also attended by the mayor of Atalaia do Norte, Denis de Paiva; the substitute regional Coordinator of the National Indigenous People Foundation (Funai), Mislene Mendes; as well as other local representatives of Civil Society.
Ethnic Groups and Education
The Indigenous teachers of Marubo, Matis, Matses and Kanamari ethnicities are peoples who have had contact with the National Society intensified since the 1970s. The schooling of these peoples began from the end of the 1980s.
The training course at primary and secondary levels was made available in the 1990s with the support of the State Agency for Education and Sports. In that period, the students had their training interrupted due to a Cholera and Delta Hepatitis pandemic that affected the entire territory of Javari Valley.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, in the last term before the closure of the higher education course, classes were suspended in order to comply with biosafety measures. In this period, the course was in mourning for the loss of Benedito Marubo, the first indigenous teacher of his people and a wise connoisseur of the Javari Valley.
Source text: Carla Yael/Ascom UEA
Source photos: Daniel Brito/Ascom UEA
Source aerial photos: Vilomar Bispo da Silva
English Version: Committee of English Translation/Interpretation of the International Relations Office of Amazonas State University.
