A/HRC/30/41/Add.1 2. Education 60. Paraguay is a multicultural and multilingual country with two official languages: Spanish and Guaraní. The Constitution also recognizes indigenous languages as part of the nation’s cultural heritage. 61. Indigenous peoples’ contribution to the cultural wealth of the nation notwithstanding, the indigenous population continues to encounter enormous barriers to the enjoyment of the right to education. According to data analysed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 22 the illiteracy rate among the indigenous population of Paraguay is 40 per cent, compared with 5.1 per cen t for the nonindigenous population, and the average length of completed studies for persons over the age of 15 is three years for indigenous persons and eight years for non -indigenous persons. Enrolment in primary education has been increasing in stages, but there are still large discrepancies between the gross school enrolment rates of the indigenous and non-indigenous populations. According to the 2012 census results, 70 per cent of indigenous communities, villages or neighbourhoods have a local school, while 71.9 per cent report a lack of classrooms and problems relating to school infrastructure. In 27 per cent of the communities, there are no teachers, and only 45 communities have a secondary school. 62. Indigenous education in Paraguay is governed by Act No. 3231/07, which provides for the establishment of the Directorate-General of Indigenous Education. This law stipulates that the State shall guarantee “the right of indigenous peoples to apply their cultural norms and forms of education” and that indigenous education shall serve to “strengthen their culture and facilitate their active participation in society ”. It also provides for the establishment of the National Indigenous Education Council, which includes representatives of local indigenous education councils that are made up of members of indigenous assemblies and organizations in various parts of the country. 63. The stated objective of the Directorate-General of Indigenous Education is to strengthen indigenous education and to promote intercultur alism by implementing the 2013-2018 National Plurilingual Education Plan for the Indigenous Peoples of Paraguay. In preschool and primary educational institutions in indigenous communities, efforts have been made to promote training for indigenous teachers and teaching in the relevant mother tongue, as well as to support the development, in conjunction with the communities concerned, of culturally appropriate educational materials. In order to link education to other aspects of indigenous life, the Directorate-General is carrying out various initiatives, one of which focuses on the incorporation of traditional foods into school meals. It also envisages improving access to higher and university education, since, despite the fact that such education is free for indigenous students, the number of those who can actually take advantage of it remains very low, as scholarships do not cover travel or accommodation and schools are usually located in urban areas that are far away from these communities. The Directorate-General has acknowledged that its budget is insufficient and unpredictable, which hinders the conversion of such programmes into permanent policy instruments for addressing the problems confronted by the indigenous peoples in terms of the full realization of their right to higher education. 64. In her meetings with indigenous representatives and civil society organizations, the Special Rapporteur listened to complaints about impediments to progress towards these objectives, the lack of participation by ind igenous persons in the preparation of legislation and programmes for its implementation, and the persistence of the two fold __________________ 22 GE.15-13734 UNICEF, Ministry of Education and Culture, Instituto de Desarrollo, Escuelas de comunidades indígenas en Paraguay. Análisis de datos 2006-2011, Asunción, 2013, p. 22. 15/24