A/HRC/18/35/Add.5 E. Education 21. Levels of indigenous school enrolment are low and indigenous children rarely complete primary school. A study funded by UNICEF found that 65 per cent of indigenous teenagers aged 12-15 years did not have access to education, compared to 39 per cent of the general population.6 The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights noted in 2007 that only 2.9 per cent of school children were indigenous, much lower than the estimated 10 per cent of the school-age population that is indigenous.7 22. Remote settlements, exclusion and conditions of extreme poverty impede indigenous children’s access to education. Schools are sometimes located far from indigenous villages, requiring indigenous students to travel long distances to get to school. Even though primary education is officially free,8 due to the lack of sufficient teachers in remote areas, indigenous families are often expected to contribute to teachers’ wages, and often cannot afford to buy basic supplies such as pens, books, chalk, slates, or even adequate clothing to enable their children to attend schools. In addition, enrolment fees are often required for post-primary education, which constitutes a severe block to indigenous access to higher levels of education. There are also reports of outright discrimination in schools against indigenous children by other students and teachers. 23. Other important factors that impede indigenous education are the school curriculum and calendar. The Special Rapporteur learned that indigenous children rarely have access to education in their own language or about their own culture. Also, schools rarely adapt to the seasonal patterns of hunting and gathering of indigenous peoples. For example, during the important periods of honey or caterpillar gathering, on which many indigenous people rely for their survival, indigenous children are unable to accompany their families into the forests for weeks at a time without missing school and falling behind in school work. Furthermore, given that indigenous families often depend on each family member to gather food for their survival, sending children to school often means a choice between education and subsistence. 24. However, the Special Rapporteur did learn about programs that adapt education to the needs of indigenous communities, including certain church schools or privately initiated programmes like the ORA9 schools, a joint initiative of UNICEF and local organizations. Taking the indigenous calendar into account in designing curriculum, ORA schools use a non-formal teaching method based on the ways of life of indigenous peoples. Both indigenous languages and French are used in the three-year integration phase, which prepares indigenous students for integration into mainstream schools. Eighteen pilot ORA schools have been set up in the departments of Likouala and Sangha, through which 1,600 indigenous students have gained access to basic education. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur about the incorporation of a line item in the 2011 budget to evaluate the ORA system with a view to its inclusion in the national educational system. 25. The Special Rapporteur also learned about an education program in Sibiti that trains indigenous youth in basic engineering skills, which according to reports, is adapted to the 6 7 8 9 8 UNICEF, Rapport d’analyse diagnostique sur les normes et pratiques socials vis-à-vis des populations autochtones en République du Congo (Brazzaville, 2009), p. 27. ACHPR, Report of the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities: Research and information visit to the Republic of Congo (September 2005), p. 34; U.S. Department of State, 2009 Human Rights Report – Republic of the Congo. Law No. 4-2010 of June 2010 on Child protection in the Republic of the Congo, art. 27. Observer, Réfléchir, Agir (Observe, Reflect, Act).