Multilingual Education and India

Dear MLE friends, The latest issue of Indian Folklife is focused on MLE. The guest editor, Dr Mahendra Mishra, writes in his editorial: This newsletter contains articles contributed by practitioners and policy makers on indigenous education and multilingual education across the globe. Tove Skutnabb Kangas is a well known advocate of Multilingual Education and Linguistic Human Rights. David A. Hough is a Liberatory Pedagogist and his focus is on Nepal Multilingual Education Project to promote tribal education through bottom up approach, empowering the indigenous community. Iina Nurmela’s paper is based on the experiential part of David’s work in Nepal . Susanne Perez’s article explores the indigenous education system of Peru . Dhir Jhingran has suggested appropriate educational strategies for implementation arrangements referring some feasible models drawing from the successful models from different countries where indigenous education has been made successful.

Dear MLE friends, Ever now and then the press picks up on the value of the use of the mother tongue. Express published an article based on observations in Orissa. A copy of the article you find below this entry. This is the link: http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98Local+dialect+can+bridge+the+gap%E2%80%99&artid=ODIgvrQdQKE=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO = Regards, Karsten (Thanks to Dr Mahendra Mishra for passing on the article) Karsten van Riezen Education Consultant, SIL Int. SIL, South Asia Group. www.sil.org Disclaimer : This mailing list is an informal way to share MLE related information. The sender neither claims credit or responsibility for the reports and events shared through this mailing list. Subscribing or unsubscribe by writing "[MLE] Subscribe" or "[MLE] Unsubscribe" in the subject-line and send a message t...

Dear MLE friends, UNESCO put an other good and helpful MLE related publication on the Web: " Mother tongue matters: local language as a key to effective learning " is now available on-line. This book contains case studies from Papua New Guinea , Mali and Peru . It also contains a section on the Thomas and Collier longitudinal study. If you rather look for recommendations read the "Key Findings" chapter. I copy the conclusion chapter below. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=161121&set=49AC0AB5_1_167&gp=1&mode=e&lin=1 The book is written by Dörthe Bühmann and Barbara Trudell. Regards, Karsten Karsten van Riezen Education Consultant, SIL Int. SIL, South Asia Group. www.sil.org Disclaimer : This mailing list is an informal way to share MLE related information. The sender neither claims credit or responsibility for the reports and events shared through this mailing list. Subscribing or unsubscr...

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.