International mother tongue day is celebrated worldwide on the 21st of February every year.
The idea to celebrate the day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO general conference.
It was formally recognized at the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of the UN resolution. In 2002 mother Language day became part of a broader initiative to promote the preservation and protection of all languages worldwide.
The theme of this year’s international mother Language day is entitled “fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.
According to UNESCO, the theme is a call on policy makers, educators and teachers, parents and families to scale up commitment to multilingual education, and inclusion in education to advance education recovery in the context of COVID-19.
The organization said Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear.
It stated that globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand.
A nursing mother in Kano, Saratu Muhammad is of the view that language plays a significant role in a child’s development.
”I wish the government will understand and introduce some subjects in the mother tongue, the students will have a better understanding of what they are being taught. Some adult education schools in Kano have started using Hausa to teach their students. I could remember when I was young, we were being taught a certain subject in Hausa. I realised that no society can develop without education, and no education can be taught effectively without communication, no communication will take part without language”
The Dean School of Languages Federal College of Education Kano, Dr Bashir Ibrahim spoke extensively on the impact of mother tongue in learning process.
“Generally in education, we believe that when you are teaching any student, you teach them what they know first before teaching them what they don’t know. In basic education whether primary or secondary education, you are supposed to teach the pupils in their mother tongue as it will help the student in perceiving and assimilating what they are learning. That’s why we believe in education that the mother is the first teacher in the world.”
Dr Bashir further explained that mother tongue plays a vital role in education as such there is the need for government and relevant stakeholders to include the use of mother tongue in Nigeria’s education curriculum.
”Some teachers are confused that the learning is mixed up with the learning process, that is why you can even teach those that cannot hear and speak. learning and teaching are two different aspects”
Dr Bashir added that the use of Mother Language in early schooling and commitment to its development will Foster cultural preservation.