Education and Bilingualism
The growing interaction between Spanish speakers and ch’ol speakers has created a desire for higher education and more job opportunities. The interaction has also heightened the need to learn Spanish and has caused the stigmatization of native languages including Ch’ol. However, the majority of Spanish speakers in the ch’ol community are males, younger women and children. Children learn to speak Spanish in primary school; they are taught in Ch’ol till fourth grade when instruction begins to be given in Spanish. In some rural villages, there are secondary schools but for higher education, most have to travel to a different town. However, the cost of doing so generally prohibits this. In México, education is mandatory through secondary school but many ch’ol students (especially girls) stop attending around the sixth grade due to early marriage and financial issues.
Read more about this topic: Ch'ol People
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