New UNESCO report - Languages Matter: Global Guidance on Multilingual Education



In 1953, UNESCO published "The use of vernacular languages in education," a historical report advocating for the use of mother tongues in education. It was an influential document in promoting multilingual education. Over the years several other publications followed and this year a fresh report came out: Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education. It is good to note that in this report India is mentioned several times with positive examples. Let's hope that also this time the report will help to move us all a bit closer to the desired situation where children can learn in a  language they are comfortable with before transitioning to a dominant language.


As this was the 25th anniversary of the International Mother Language Day (21st February, 2025), UNESCO released a report, Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education which expresses the urgent need to include multilingual and mother tongue languages in education. The significance of the report lies in the fact that it provides guidelines for Education Ministries and other stakeholders (teachers, policymakers, and educational specialists) to put multilingual education(MLE) policies into practice, aiming to build school systems that would be inclusive to students of all languages (especially minority languages).  


The report begins with highlighting the benefits of using a child's mother tongue in early education and presents research-backed strategies for implementing MLE in policies. It contains case studies and examples of successful multilingual education programs and policy recommendations for governments to support the mother tongue. It also includes strategies for teachers to help students learn multiple languages smoothly and transition from mother tongue to other languages. This report  directly supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4—ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

In terms of practical usability the report  we note the following features:

  1. It provides guidance for teachers to use  bilingual learning materials, encouraging code-switching, and incorporating interactive language activities such as songs and storytelling. 

  2. Schools can adopt multilingual policies, design structured language transition programs, and provide teacher training to equip educators with the necessary skills.

  3. Policymakers can support language-inclusive policies, allocate resources for multilingual education, and engage communities in language preservation efforts. 

  4. Parents and families play a crucial role in reinforcing home language learning through storytelling, bilingual conversations, and reading in the mother tongue.


India references 

At several places in the report iIndia is specifically mentioned:

  • Data: SIL data (Ethnologue) is quoted which shows that India ranks fourth among the countries with the highest linguistic diversity and most spoken languages at 459. Therefore India could particularly benefit in safeguarding this linguistic diversity through multilingual education.  

  • Policies: India has created some of the most supportive policies for Multilingual Education in the Asia-Pacific region. India’s National Education Policy (2020) emphasises diversity, equity, and technology use to improve access. It promotes mother tongue instruction up to at least Grade 5, supports the flexible three-language formula, and encourages the use of local languages in higher education to boost access and strengthen Indian languages.

  • Cases: In Rajasthan's Dungarpur district, a 2019 program to improve indigenous Wagdi-speaking students’ learning and engagement by teaching in their mother tongue. Through the Odisha multilingual education project, children’s performance improved in maths and linguistic skills in addition to higher interest in school, attended more regularly, and grew more confident. 

  • Technology: Storyweaver is mentioned to support the development of MLE teaching and learning materials. The report also mentions Bloom Editor of SIL  in the same section, a free, user-friendly tool for creating and translating books in Indigenous and minority languages.   

  • Monitoring and Evaluation:  The report highlights a large-scale language mapping initiative in Chhattisgarh, India. Led by the Department of School Education with UNICEF India and the Language and Learning Foundation, it covered 412,973 Grade 1 students from 30,000 government schools. 

Resource

The document also includes real-world case studies as we see above in the cases quoted from India demonstrating the success of MLE (using mother tongues) programs in various regions. Researchers and specialists can use these insights to evaluate language policies, develop data-driven strategies, and document best practices. By promoting language-inclusive education systems, this document supports UNESCO’s broader mission of preserving linguistic diversity and inclusion by ensuring education for all, making it a valuable resource for achieving global education and development goals.



Regards,

Karsten, in collaboration with Upasana Lepcha