Celebrating Linguistic Diversity

International Mother Language Day is a globally observed on February 21^st every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. The main purpose of International Mother Language Day is to raise awareness regarding the importance of preserving and promoting all languages, particularly indigenous languages that are in danger of disappearing. It also aims to promote the use of mother tongues in education, public life, and the media.

International Mother Language Day provides an opportunity to celebrate linguistic diversity and to promote the use of mother tongues as a means of preserving cultural heritage and promoting intercultural understanding. International Mother Language Day is celebrated on February 21^st in India, just like in the rest of the world.

In India, the day is observed to promote the use of all languages, particularly indigenous and regional languages. India has a rich linguistic and cultural diversity with over 22 official languages recognized by the Constitution of India, and many more regional languages and dialects spoken across the country. International Mother Language Day is an occasion to celebrate this diversity and promote the preservation and promotion of all languages.

The date of February 21^st was chosen to commemorate the Language Movement Day, which occurred on the same date in 1952 in Bangladesh. The Language Movement was a political protest against the imposition of Urdu as the sole national language of Pakistan, which was then the newly formed country that included both East and West Pakistan. The Language Movement led to the recognition of Bengali as an official language of Pakistan in 1956 and eventually the creation of an independent Bangladesh in 1971.

Globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand. But progress is being made in multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life. International Mother Language Day recognizes that languages and multilingualism can advance inclusion and the Sustainable Development Goals’ focus on leaving no one behind.

UNESCO encourages and promotes multilingual education based on mother tongue or first language. It is a type of education that begins in the language that the learner masters most and then gradually introduces other languages.

This approach enables learners whose mother tongue is different from the language of instruction to bridge the gap between home and school, to discover the school environment in a familiar language, and thus, learn better. Multilingualism contributes to the development of inclusive societies that allow multiple cultures, worldviews and knowledge systems to coexist and cross-fertilize.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also stresses on the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction preferably in the primary classes. The vision is to enhance the level of understanding and make easier for students to interact. The students are having the flexibility to study language of their choice.

Every year a theme is set for International Mother Language Day. And the theme of the 2024  International Mother Language Day, “Celebrating Linguistic Diversity and Multilingual Education Through History” aligns with recommendations made during the Transforming Education Summit, where an emphasis was also placed on Indigenous people’s education and languages.

Multilingual education based on mother-tongue facilitates access to and inclusion in learning for population groups that speak non-dominant languages, languages of minority groups and indigenous languages.

By Abid Shafi Banday