Multilingual Education and India

Dear MLE friends, Enabling Education is a publication of Enabling Education Network. Their 12 th issue has over 15 pages with articles on language education issues. It states in the introductions: “In this special section, we will look at language and the impact it has on children’s participation and achievement in education. The use of, and teaching of, language is a complex issue. We can only provide a brief introduction through the articles in this newsletter, but ideas for further reading are provided on page 24.”

Dear MLE friends, Last month Dr. Arun Kumar Rath, Secretary, DSE & L, MHRD called for a meeting on MultiLingual Education. All key players were present. The most significant outcome was “ … the constitution of a National Resource Group (NRG) on MLE in the light of the NRG of SSA on quality. This NRG should meet at least once every three to six months to discuss various emerging issues and strategize for better implementation of MLE. The NRG should design non–negotiables for MLE interventions, monitor interventions and provide technical support to the concerned states.”

Dear MLE friends, At the Minority Forum of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, about 70 recommendations were given on Education. Severel of those have references to the language. E.g. 59. School language regimes for the initial stages of education in State schools should ideally employ the language of the child as the predominant medium of instruction, with a gradual introduction of the State language or dominant local language, if different from that of the child, at a later stage, where possible by bilingual teachers sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of minority children. 65. The promotion of the cultural rights of minorities is necessary to further the fulfilment of their educational rights. These rights include access to written, audio and visual media materials in their own language in order to enrich the cultural lives of minorities. There must also be the free exchange of books and other educational materials and access to universities ru

Dear MLE friends, A new recourse on endangered languages is available. Check it out: UNESCO launches the electronic version of the new edition of its Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger on 19 February The Atlas, presented on the eve of International Mother Language Day (21 February), enables searches according to several criteria, and ranks the 2,500 endangered languages that are listed according to five different levels of vitality: unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct., youth and the private sector. The work carried out by the more than 30 linguists who worked together on the Atlas shows that the phenomenon of disappearing languages appears in every region and in very variable economic conditions.

Dear MLE friends, Today is the International Mother Language Day! See the UNESCO announcement below.