International Mother Language Day

  In 2025, NSTDA ’s Bridging Literacy Gaps programme won the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for promoting equitable literacy for their accessible digital platform for Thai students with disabilities. This programme involves youth in shaping inclusive education through school visits, feedback, and designing accessible tools for diverse learners, including deaf and blind students. Technologies embed Thai Sign Language, audio navigation, simplified text, visuals, and adaptive interfaces to remove language barriers. Since winning the award, the National Science and Technology Development Agency has expanded accessibility features across national health and learning platforms and developed new online programmes for learners with special needs. Despite funding challenges, it continues advocating for equity, accessibility, and linguistic inclusion in Thai education. On International Mother Language Day , the National Science and Technology Development Agency reaffirms its commitment t...

For over 20 years, the Sokola Institute has supported Indigenous communities in Sumatra, Indonesia, promoting literacy in learners’ mother tongues . Its Sokola Literacy Education for Indigenous Indonesians programme received the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in 2024. Youth from local communities act as facilitators, teaching in their own languages and creating materials based on local stories. Sokola views mother tongues as central to identity and dignity , shaping curricula around local linguistic structures to engage learners and connect with broader society . Since the award, Sokola has expanded resources in languages such as Bahasa Rimba, Bahasa Sumba, and Bahasa Tengger. In the Lamboya District, 92 schools co-create materials with community knowledge holders. The Institute also supports Indigenous educator certification and continues advocating for multilingual education despite limited policy recognition, scarce resources, and socio-economic pressures. On International ...

  Founded in 2000, Room to Read supports children in 29 countries through teacher training, libraries, and local-language publishing. Recipient of the 2011 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, it engages youth in developing culturally relevant content and works with local authors and educators to ensure authentic, home-language materials . This approach strengthens literacy, inclusion, and equitable learning outcomes. Since winning the award, Room to Read has expanded local-language books , reinforced teacher training, and increased accessible formats, including braille and sign language. Challenges remain, as many languages lack quality materials and teacher capacity requires ongoing support and partnerships. On International Mother Language Day , Room to Read encourages educators, policymakers, and communities to recognize that children learn best when their languages are valued and used in the classroom . “Investing in mother-tongue and multilingual education is not a compr...

One of the world’s largest open schooling systems, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) received the 2021 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for its inclusive, technology-enabled programmes supporting persons with disabilities, especially through Indian sign language. The institute serves diverse learners—first-generation students, dropouts, working youth, migrants, and marginalized linguistic groups—offering flexible academic and vocational programmes in multiple Indian languages and Indian sign language, with materials in regional languages to aid learning and retention. Since winning the award, it has produced 1,600+ Indian sign language videos and expanded teacher training across India’s 22 Scheduled Languages. On International Mother Language Day , the National Institute of Open Schooling encourages young learners, educators, and policymakers to celebrate linguistic diversity as a source of strength . “Every language carries knowledge, culture, and identity, and educ...

 Young people are the main guardians of the world’s linguistic diversity. They are the inheritors of nearly 7,000 spoken or signed languages – and of the responsibility to keep them alive and pass them on. Still, young people need to be introduced to linguistic diversity, and this begins at an early age, through education. This is why UNESCO’s theme for the celebration of this year’s International Mother Language Day, initiated by Bangladesh, is youth voices on multilingual education. The research on the subject is clear. As indicated in our recent report Languages Matter: Global Guidance on Multilingual Education, learning in one’s mother tongue promotes academic success, builds self-confidence and strengthens the predisposition to learning new languages. Yet 40% of the world’s children learn in a language which is not the one they speak at home. In light of this observation, UNESCO is pleased to be collaborating with Cameroon on the integration of more than 200 local languages in...

The International Mother Language Day is observed every year on February 21st . This date was declared based on the resolution of the 30th General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999 with a view to draw attention to the need for encouraging linguistic and cultural diversity. Over many decades our country has amassed a rich language policy experience that is sought after by our foreign partners. A significant number of indigenous languages of Russia are studied at secondary schools and used as the language of instruction in universities as a result of targeted efforts. The Russian Federation is among the top 10 countries by population and is the world’s largest multi-ethnic (polyethnic) states. Russia is home to 190+ various peoples using over 300 languages. As per the State National Policy Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2036 (November 25, 2025): The ethno-cultural and linguistic diversity of the Russian Federation, its historic experience and traditions of intercultural ...