The United Nations' (UN) International Mother Language Day annually celebrates language diversity and variety worldwide on February 21. It also remembers events such as the killing of four students on February 21, 1952, because they campaigned to officially use their mother language, Bengali, in Bangladesh.
UNESCO reiterates its position on the importance of appropriate languages of instruction, usually mother tongues, in early years of schooling: formal and non-formal education must deliver quality education for all learners by taking a multilingual approach, which has great potential for achieving development goal 4 of the Agenda 2030.
In line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education of the Agenda 2030, and the Education 2030 Framework for Action, the theme of Mother Language Day (IMLD) 2016 is, "Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes".
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| The theme of the 2016 International Mother Language Day is “Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes.” |
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The fight for language diversity has a history, especially
in countries such as Bangladesh
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"Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential components of quality education, which is itself the foundation for empowering women and men and their societies." -Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General
In Sustainable Development Goal 4, the 2030 Agenda focuses on quality education and lifelong learning for all, to enable every woman and man to acquire skills, knowledge, and values to become everything they wish and participate fully in their societies. This is especially important for girls and women, as well as minorities, indigenous peoples, and rural populations. This is reflected in UNESCO’s Education 2030 Framework for Action, a road-map to implement the 2030 Agenda, encouraging full respect for the use of mother language in teaching and learning, and the promotion and preservation of linguistic diversity.
Multilingualism is essential to drive these objectives forward – it is vital for success across the 2030 Agenda, regarding growth, employment and health, as well as sustainable consumption and production, and climate change.
UNESCO brings the same focus to advancing linguistic diversity on the Internet, through support to relevant local content as well as media and information literacy. Through the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme, UNESCO is highlighting the importance of mother and local languages as channels for safeguarding and sharing indigenous cultures and knowledge, which are vast reservoirs of wisdom.
Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential components of quality education, which is itself the foundation for empowering women and men and their societies. We must recognise and nurture this power, in order to leave no one behind, to craft a more just and sustainable future for all.
What Do People Do?
On International Mother Language Day the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN agencies participate in events that promote linguistic and cultural diversity. They also encourage people to maintain their knowledge of their mother language while learning and using more than one language. Governments and non-governmental organizations may use the day to announce policies to encourage language learning and support.
The Linguapax Institute, in Barcelona, Spain, aims to preserve and promote linguistic diversity globally. The institute presents the Linguapax Prize on International Mother Language Day each year for those who have made outstanding work in linguistic diversity or multilingual education.
Background
At the partition of India in 1947, the Bengal province was divided according to the predominant religions of the inhabitants. The western part became part of India and the eastern part became a province of Pakistan known as East Bengal and later East Pakistan. However, there was economic, cultural and linInternational Mother Language Day has been being observed since 2000 to promote peace and multilingualism. The date corresponds to the day in 1952 when students from the University of Dhaka, Jagannath University and Dhaka Medical College, demonstrating for the recognition of Bengali as one of the two national languages of East Pakistan, were shot dead by police near the Dhaka High Court in the capital of present-day Bangladesh.
"Mother language" is the calque of a term used in several Romance languages: lengua materna (Spanish), lingua madre (Italian) and langue maternelle (French). A more literal English translation would be "mother tongue", although "native language" is the most comprehensible term in English. In linguistics, "mother language" refers to an ancestral (or proto-language) of a language family.gual friction between East and West Pakistan.
Symbols
The Shaheed Minar (martyr's monument) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pays homage to the four demonstrators killed in 1952.
In India
The Government of India has decided to promote and digitize content in all its 22 officially recognized languages. As a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative, digitized content will be made available in 22 scheduled languages which will be extended to other 234 recognized languages of India.
Ref:
http://www.timeanddate.com
http://www.unesco.org
