Bilingual education and autonomy

Abstract

There are currently three bilingual education programs in Nicaragua, targeting the Sumu (Twahka-Panamaka), Creole and Miskito ethno-linguistic groups.  These programs are developed in the area of the country traditionally called the Atlantic Coast, that is, in the recently founded North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS). The first governments of these autonomous regions were elected in February 1990. Indeed, while the rest of Nicaragua is ethnically uniform and populated mainly by Spanish-speaking mestizos, there are six distinct ethnic groups on the Caribbean Coast:  Mestizos, who are the majority (183,000); Miskitos (67,000); Creoles or Afro-Caribbeans (26,000); Sumos (7,000); Rajas (700); and Garífonos (1,500) - these figures, rounded from Hale and Gordon (87), are approximate, as exact censuses are lacking.