E/C.12/GTM/CO/3 discrepancies in quality and infrastructure between urban and rural schools, the low salaries of teachers and their lack of training (art. 13). The Committee recommends that the State party remove all direct and indirect charges in primary education, which should be compulsory and available free to all, as established in article 13 of the Covenant. The Committee recommends that the State party provide the resources required to ensure that the quality and infrastructure of the education system are of an acceptable standard in both rural and urban areas. The Committee encourages the State party to improve the salaries, material conditions and training of teaching staff. School dropout 25. Despite the State party’s efforts in this regard, the Committee is concerned about the high dropout rates in primary education, in particular among girls in rural areas. The Committee also notes with concern that, despite advances, illiteracy rates remain high, especially in rural areas and among indigenous peoples, and in particular among girls (arts. 13 and 14). The Committee recommends that the State party continue its efforts to implement its literacy plan and step up its efforts in rural areas and among the indigenous peoples. It encourages the State party to develop targeted programmes aimed at helping to ensure that students do not drop out of school and addressing the reasons why they do so. Bilingual intercultural education 26. Despite the efforts made by the State party in this regard, the Committee reiterates its concern that indigenous peoples do not always enjoy the right to be educated in indigenous languages. The Committee is further concerned about the existence of factors that limit students’ access to secondary and higher education and that make it more difficult for students, once they are in school, to remain there, particularly in the case of indigenous adolescents and young persons (arts. 13 and 14). The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to guarantee the access of indigenous peoples to intercultural education in their own languages and to ensure that such education is adapted to their specific needs. The Committee urges the State party to take urgent steps to preserve and promote the use of indigenous languages. Internet access 27. The Committee is concerned that, despite the State party’s efforts in this connection, the access to and use of cyberspace by indigenous peoples remain limited. The Committee recommends that the State party continue working to expand Internet access and that it redouble its efforts to set up educational and information centres focusing on the use of new technologies and the Internet, in particular for indigenous peoples. D. Other recommendations 28. The Committee requests the State party to disseminate the present concluding observations widely at all levels of society, in particular among indigenous peoples (translating them into the main indigenous languages spoken in the country), judicial authorities, lawmakers, lawyers, business people and civil society organizations and to 8 GE.14-23900

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