In this book chapter, Emmanuelle Le Pichon (University of Toronto/Rutu Advisory board) and Ellen-Rose Kambel (director Rutu Foundation) examine whether the language of assessment influences performance scores of young dual learners in mathematics and reading tests in order to determine the role of dual language support at primary school level in Suriname. The objectives of this chapter are to deepen insight into Suriname’s linguistic landscape and to emphasize the need for plurilingual and intercultural education.
They place the debate in the context of international legal obligations of Suriname which approved the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007). This declaration includes the right of indigenous peoples to provide education in their own language in accordance with their traditions.
Given the current high academic dropout rate in Suriname, in particular in the rural areas, the results informed in this chapter are decidedly releant.
In: Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite (Ed.), Human Rights in Language and STEM Education, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers (2016).