International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.
Who Proposed International Mother Language Day?
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. And in nearly 200 countries of the world, various peoples speaking various languages and belonging to various national cultures will observe 21st February as the International Mother Language Day. The United Nations (UN) general assembly in 2002 welcomed the decision. On May 16, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly through a resolution called upon member states "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world".
Theme
The theme of the 2021 International Mother Language Day is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society,”. This year’s observance is a call on policymakers, educators and teachers, parents, and families to scale up their commitment to multilingual education, and inclusion in education to advance education recovery in the context of COVID19.
The importance of the mother tongue in education
The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, pointed out in a recent speech on International Mother Language Day that mother languages shape millions of developing young minds. She believes that children learn best in their mother tongue and that it is important that children should have this opportunity. Around the world, 40 percent of the population does not have access to education in a language they can understand or speak. Using certain languages can make it easier, or much harder, to do well in life.