It plans to expand the bilingual approach to other areas.

National workshops were held at which the programmes for the second semester of the degree programme in primary education using an intercultural bilingual approach were presented.

Currently, 12 states and 15 teacher training colleges are participating in the degree in primary education using an intercultural bilingual approach.

UNICEF-assisted programmes in Latin America are using inclusive, bilingual education approaches to address these problems.

With regard to the initial training of teachers, all the subjects to be taken in the third and fourth semesters of the degree programme in primary education using an intercultural bilingual approach are now intercultural in nature.

Participating countries undertake research with the participation of linguists and community members, prepare context-specific literacy materials using mother-tongue/bilingual approaches and train local personnel in the use of teaching/learning materials for facilitating learning by community members.

In the specific case of indigenous literacy, a bilingual and intercultural approach is a fundamental criterion.

As examples of ongoing activities in line with the above-mentioned paper, UNESCO Bangkok is encouraging countries in the Asia and Pacific region to undertake research to find out the effectiveness of using a mother tongue and bilingual approach in literacy programmes.

The workshop aimed to support participating countries in their efforts to undertake research with the participation of linguists and community members, to prepare context-specific literacy materials using mother tongue/bilingual approaches, and to train locals in the use of these teaching materials as educational tools for community members.

The educational materials are intended to stimulate educational practices that meet the schooling needs of indigenous children and help satisfy their basic learning needs with a bilingual intercultural approach.