This paper examines the Zapatista schools which arose in 1996 in the state of Chiapas in Mexico as a pillar of Zapatista autonomy and also as a result of the indigenous communities' dissatisfaction with the government's bilingual education programme. Based on ethnographic field work, the author reveals the objectives of the schools as being the protection of indigenous culture, values, languages and rights, the promotion of sexual equality, the gearing of education towards the rural context and the strengthening of communities' independence of external organisations. The author finds that despite the political, financial and didactic obstacles they face, the schools are succeeding in making progress in fulfilling their objectives and building an alternative to the neoliberal development model. (Contains 1 figure.)