Multilingual Education and India

Creativity comes so much more naturally when we use our heart languages. Creative writing is part of that, and therefore it is good to note the PALASH initiative (Jharkhand) efforts to get the children to write their own books is bearing fruit: One of their books won an international prize. Let's celebrate with them, but also challenge ourselves as only 1 book from India was chosen, while several other countries had multiple finalists.  In a milestone for indigenous literature and mother-tongue education, a Santhali-language storybook created entirely by schoolgirls from Jharkhand has been selected for the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages . Out of hundreds of global entries, this student-led creation now stands among roughly 170 titles representing over 150 indigenous and endangered languages worldwide. Titled "Rimil Aar Chasha Hodo" (The Cloud and the Farmer), the book was authored and illustrated by yo...

© 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 ...

We usually talk about strategies and policies, but Aparna Dixit and Dhir Jhingran go deeper in their article on multilingual pedagogies in the latest NORRAG Special Issue on MLE. They state that teachers' opinions, values and attitudes play a critical role in making multilingual education work. I particularly like the concept of "reculturing": “ … a vital cultural transformation that supports teachers in adopting newer practices while they simultaneously question and realign their beliefs."  Two recent articles in NORRAG Special Issue 11 focus on multilingual education (MLE) in India, offering insights grounded in both field-level practice and national policy experience. Together, they reflect the complex linguistic realities and evolving strategies of implementing MLE in the Indian context. ( NORRAG is the Global Education Centre of the Geneva Graduate Institute and a global network  of education and training) In the article ‘Navigating Multilingual Pedagogies in ...

A lot of discussion is going on about the recent directive from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to get serious about implementing the National Education Policy with regards to teaching in the language most familiar to the children. It is good to note the writings that support this move, but we also need to take note of those who raise concerns about the practical feasibility.  The CBSE has issued a directive in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF 2023). Beginning in the 2025–26 academic session, CBSE-affiliated schools are asked to implement a “mother tongue first” approach, making instruction in students’ home or regional languages mandatory during the foundational and preparatory stages of schooling (from pre-primary to Grade 5)( Times of India ). This language directive seeks to reshape how language is approached in early childhood education across India’s diverse linguistic la...