Multilingual Education and India

World Book Day gives us a nice excuse to promote the production of books in the local languages. Particularly since this year there was a special emphasis on indigenous languages! In line with the theme of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-32), f or this year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has chosen the theme  “Indigenous Languages”! According to their official statement , “Indigenous and local languages feature as part of the World Book Capital Network Charter, and the Charter recognizes a less rigid concept of ‘the book'; it also acknowledges all  forms of literature (including oral traditions).” The statement also mentions that, “ Of the almost 7,000 existing languages – many of which are fast disappearing – the majority are spoken by indigenous peoples who represent the greater part of the world's cultural diversity.” Therefore, they are stressing the importance of safeguarding these languages, the moth

  Photo credit: https://asiapacificmle.net/conference/2023/   The Multilingual Education Conference in Thailand has always been a great place to meet with fellow-educationalists with a passion (or at least interest!) for Multilingual Education. Because of Covid it was a bit delayed, but I was glad to learn there will be one this year in October. I hope there will be many presentations from India. There are only a few weeks left to get abstracts submitted.  See the announcement copied below. _________________________________________________________________________________ The Asia Pacific Multilingual Education Working Group (MLE WG) is pleased to announce the 7th International Conference on Language and Education to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, this 4 - 6 October 2023, and the first Call for Abstracts . The seventh edition will address multilingual education for transformative education systems and resilient futures. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, UNICEF East

Dear Reader, Congratulations on International Mother Language Day 2023 ! On this day we are thrilled to share with you that the MLE-Inda blog has been updated now with the most current information. You can find much more information on Multilingual Education on our pages dedicated to Multilingual Policies in India , MLE Projects , MLE related resources and books and our latest new page on the Historical Overview of MLE in India . You can also read the latest blog on MLE in Andhra Pradesh for the month of February, 2023.  Please note that this Blog and the  resources mentioned here are a work in progress. Therefore, we invite you to point out any inconsistencies and share any updated information, should you have it. We also accept suggestions if you have any for the blog.  We also request you to share our blog as a resource to anyone who is interested in the cause of Multilingual Education, mother tongue and language related issues. Please feel free to send us information on any cours

The full book is available on the UNESCO website The issues related to migrants and refugees are more acute than ever. The free e-book Approaches to Language in Education for Migrants and Refugees in the Asia-Pacific Region looks into the issue of language in education for these people on the move. The book is published by UNESCO Bangkok and Kathleen Heugh was the first author, but many others also contributed to this 40 page book.

MLE5 Partners  Copyright © 2018   SIL International Every two years the International MLE conference in Bangkok is a highlight for MLE practitioners and scholars. This year the 6th Multilingual Education Conference will be combined with the 13th Language and Development Conference (LDC) and address the important issues of language, human mobility, multilingual education and development. Proposals for individual presentations and panels must be received by 28 February 2019. Below are some of the details.

International Mother Language Day celebrations. Source: AP Last week, on the International Mother Language Day, I happened to be in Bangkok and was able to participate in a celebration that the Bangladesh Embassy together with UNESCO had organised. There was good representation from India and certainly not the only place where the topic of language was discussed.

International Mother Language Day 2017 (Image source- en.unesco.org) In the week of the  International Mother Language Day  there are usually extra postings related to language and education. Particularly because this year the theme is: “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”. It is also a good excuse to list a few (new) resources. The postings in the  India Express  and  India Today  are quite general in nature with some quotations from Unesco and background on the history of the day.  WebIndia  reports that activist used the day to demand linguistic parity for the regional languages. Chanpreet Kaur published an interview with Dr Mukti Sanyal on  How the focus on English could be seriously damaging India's future  with an interesting link to self-esteem: “We are losing our mother languages. And with it, we are losing self esteem, different ways of seeing the world, and encouraging the mugging up of the concepts”.  Scroll.in  used the opportunity to dig i

5th International Conference on Language and Education will start tomorrow   The 5th International Conference on Language and Education will  take stock of recent developments in MLE policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region, with a special focus on multilingual education in early childhood and primary education.There will be several presentations relevant to India .   The conference will start tomorrow with opening speeches from UNESCO and the Thai government. The Keynote address will be on " Supporting MTB­MLE to achieve sustainable development for all: what have we learned about successful programs? " by Dr Susan Malone (SIL International). Some of the India related presentations are: Prarthana Kumari (Nirantar, India) and Anita Singh (Nirantar, India), Breaking language barriers in India Sivagami Sivasubbu (Aide et Action International, India), Experiences of Aide et Action imparting MLE through teacher training in India Dwiti Vikramaditya (Kali

5th International Conference on Language and Education   The International Conferences on Language and Education, which have been organized by a large group of agencies in Asia, have over the years impacted many projects in India. The 5th one will be held this year, again in Bangkok. The following announcement has been copied from the UNESCO MLE Newsletter   Asia Pacific Multilingual Education Working Group (MLE WG) will be organizing its 5th International Conference on Language and Education on 19-21 October 2016 in Bangkok , Thailand. The 5th International Conference on Language and Education will take stock of recent developments in MLE policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region, with a special focus on multilingual education in early childhood and primary education.        It will likewise look at innovative pedagogies in the training of MLE teachers. Finally, it will examine challenges and lesson learned from the EFA experience and give opportunities for for

Congrats, Multilingual Education Friends, today is International Mother Language day! A nice description on West-Info-eu is given as follows: Today 21 st February , the International Mother Language Day is celebrated. Proclaimed the first time in 1999 by UNESCO , it is an important initiative to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multiculturalism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla , as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan , were shot and killed by police in Dhaka , the capital of what is now Bangladesh. However, due to globalization processes, languages are increasingly under threat  to the point that more than 50% of the 7,000

Dear MultiLingual Education friends, UNESCO Bangkok just published the 10th Issue of Multilingual Education E-Newsletter . It has MLE related news-items from all over Asia , a list of resources related to education  and a overview of relevant events. The most interesting event is probably the 4th International Conference on Language and Education: Multilingual Education for All in Asia and the Pacific - Policies, Practices and Processes , Thailand; 6-8 November 2013. There is also a link to the MLE Mapping Data as maintained by the Asia Multilingual Education Working Group with a request to contribute to it.

Dear MultiLingual Education friends, B elow is  the invitation and abstract submission call for 4th International Conference on Language and Education which is held from 6 to 8 Nov, 2013, in Bangkok , Thailand. This conference is hosted by 14 national and international organization this year such as UNESCO, UNICEF, Room to Read, SIL International, etc. Notice that submission deadline of participant’s abstract is by the end of this month and registration deadline is by the end of Aug. (See message from UNESCO below, which includes a list of speakers) Please visit the conference website for detailed information. It will be good to have a good representation from India there!

Dear multilingual Education friends, Unesco Bangkok send out the below announcement. It looks like an exciting conference again. There is lots that can be shared from India so we hope many can attend. Asia MLE WG is organizing 4 th International Conference on Language Education – Multilingual Education for ALL in Asia Pacific: Policies, practices and processes on 6-8 November 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand . The conference brings together MLE partners to increase understanding of the importance of expanding access to effective MLE and strengthen momentum for MLE in Asia and the Pacific region. The conference will facilitate the exchange of effective practices and experiences, link MLE theory to practice and foster policy dialogue. The conference will serve as a platform for forward-looking

Dear multilingual education friends, Last week I had the privilege to meet the new UNESCO director for this region at their Delhi office: Mr Shigeru Aoyagi . Only now I discovered he had just that week written an article on the issue of language: Languages are vehicles of understanding, tolerance . In that article he e.g. wrote: Mother languages, along with linguistic diversity, matter for the identity of individuals. As sources of creativity and vehicles for cultural expression, they are also important for the health of societies. Studies and researches show that use of mother language at initial stage of education would enhance children’s comprehension skills. We know how important education in the mother language is for learning outcomes. Mother language instruction is also a powerful way to fight discrimination