Multilingual Education and India

  © 2026 Karsten van Riezen What if the textbooks we rely on in multilingual literacy are actually holding us back?  As a teacher, I loved my textbooks: They gave me the clarity and structure I needed. But as we see a new, highly diverse multilingual classroom context emerging, it is time to rethink the role of instructional materials? In my recent  article from Linkedin , I explore the new role of instructional materials in literacy classrooms with learners who speak different local languages. I come to the conclusion that we should focus on 3 interventions and then invite you to your comments on those.  Primer-Centric MLE An important component of traditional Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) programs is the development of a primer in the local language. Such primers are often the anchor around which an entire literacy program is built. Typically, it starts by teaching learners the most common sounds and words in that specific language, builds si...

It is always good when more reading and teaching materials are prepared in local languages.  The Education Department in Chhattisgarh is making progress on that, and that's worth noting.    The Multilingual Education (MLE) initiative in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh has expanded across 6,937 primary schools, reaching over 260,000 children and supported by 7,650 specially trained teachers. The program incorporates nine distinct local languages and regional variants—including Halbi, Bhatri, Dhurvi, Chhattisgarhi, Dorli, Madia, and three variants of Gondi (Kanker, Bastar, and Dantewada)—enabling classrooms to directly reflect the linguistic map of the region. The choice was made to have the textbooks and primers produced in diglot: Hindi on the left side and a local Tribal Language on the right. The materials are printed using the Devanagari script, enabling non-native teachers to easily read and speak the local text.  Aligned directly with the National Educatio...

© Abhishek Scariya Visiting local NGOs sometimes reveals hidden gems. When I was at the Asha Kiran Society in Southern Odia last week, they talked about a study they did six years ago to compare children in their MLE classes with children who had only regular school inputs.  While studies of these may not be at the quality of a scientific  paper, they do help us by providing a peek into the positive impact Multilingual Education has. Here are some learnings from their  internal report.  The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions to global education, forcing primary school students to endure six to eight months without proper classes or structured educational inputs.  This provided Asha Kiran with an opportunity to do a unique study - to check for ‘retained learning’ - after 6 months of no formal educational inputs! In November 2022 the Asha Kiran Society in southern Odia conducted a small, quasi-experimental study to see whether the children who had gone through ...

I t is in the first years of education that the foundation is laid. It is therefore important to make well informed decisions on what languages should be used in Anganwadis (early learning centres) and pre-primary schools. Good that the last LEAD-India Community of Practice gave that attention! On 31st March, the LEAD India Community of Practice hosted an online session on Multilingual Education (MLE) and Early Childhood Education. The session brought together experienced experts: Dr. Shilaja Menon (Tata Trust),  Sunisha Ahuja (LLF- Language Learning Foundation), and Dr. Marcy Voss (Seidlitz Education). The speakers shared important ideas about how young  children learn best in a familiar language in their early years (primary and preprimary). Dr. Shailaja Menon spoke about how people’s mindset has changed over time as earlier, bi-lingualism was seen as a problem while learning. Today, it is seen more as a strength as learning in multiple languages helps children think better ...