International Mother Language Day is celebrated globally on February 21st each year under the United Nations (UN) auspices. The day has been observed annually since 2002 with a theme associated with it. This year’s (2023) theme is “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education,” with a specific emphasis on indigenous people’s education and languages.
Experts agree that the mother tongue is valuable for children’s cognitive development, reasoning, emotional balance, and learning additional languages. However, children across the developing world are learning very little in school, partly because they are taught in a language they do not fully understand. This practice leads to limited learning, acquisition of knowledge and skills, alienation, and high dropout and repetition rates.
To improve the quality of education, language policies should consider mother-tongue learning. Research shows that models of education that ignore mother tongue in early years may prove unproductive and ineffective, negatively affecting children’s learning. In the UNESCO report, 40% of people have no access to education in a language they understand, and 617 million children and adolescents do not achieve minimum proficiency levels in reading.
Using mother tongue education as a tool can help achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 4, which focuses on education and aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Moreover, mother-tongue education plays a vital role in personal, social, and cultural identity development, critical thinking, literacy skills, and modern technological skills aligned with local businesses, industry, and trading.
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