<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Why It's Better For Kids To Be Schooled In Their Mother Tongue</h1>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<span class="">
Posted:
16/04/2016 08:13 IST
</span>
<span class="">
Updated:
16/04/2016 08:13 IST
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="">
<img src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/4221154/images/n-INDIA-SCHOOLS-large570.jpg" alt="INDIA SCHOOLS">
</div>
<div style="height:61px;width:570px" id="float_tracker" class=""><menu style="display:block" id="social_badges" class="">
<ul class=""><li class=""><a href="javscript:void%280%29"><div class="" style="width:450px"><span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:51px;height:61px"></span></div></a><br></li><li class="">
<a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.in%2Fdipin-damodharan%2Fwhy-schools-need-to-inves_b_9653096.html">
<span class="">Share</span>
<span class="">46</span>
</a>
</li><li class="">
<div class="">
<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?lang=en&text=Why+It%27s+Better+For+Kids+To+Be+Schooled+In+Their+Mother+Tongue+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.in%2Fdipin-damodharan%2Fwhy-schools-need-to-inves_b_9653096.html">
<span class="">Tweet</span>
<span class=""></span>
</a>
</div>
</li><li class="">
<br></li><li class="">
<div class="">
<span class="">Comment</span>
<span class="">0</span>
</div>
</li></ul>
</menu></div>
<a title="Print" class=""><img src="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/images/v/print_icon.png" alt="Print" height="17" width="20"></a>
<div class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
</div>
</div>
<p>I recently visited a primary school in Tirur, Malappuram
district, Kerala. The language of instruction was English. The teacher
had great enthusiasm, but the children didn't quite share it and seemed
to be restless and distracted. To get to the bottom of this, I decided
to have an informal chat with one of the students, Atul. When I asked
him what he had learned in class, he was stumped. He didn't know what
the teacher was even talking about. It wasn't because he was slow or the
subject matter was interesting--it was simply that the lessons were
taught in an alien language in which he was not fluent. </p><p>This is
not an isolated case, but a common occurrence in schools across India
and elsewhere in South Asia. If students cannot understand the language
of instruction, how are they expected to learn? The onus of answering
that question is on policymakers. </p><blockquote class=""><span class=""> Being taught in a language other than their own can negatively impact children's learning.</span><div id="modulous_mid_article" class="">
<div id="ad_mid_article" class=""><div id="dfp_MID_300" class="">
</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote><p>Education is
about learning and understanding. It's not about the language of
instruction. Realizing this truth would help governments create a better
education eco-system that is capable of surmounting cultural and social
inequalities. A new policy<a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002437/243713E.pdf" target="_hplink"> paper </a>released
for International Mother Language Day on 21 February by the UNESCO
Global Monitoring Report (GMR) presents a detailed picture of the
learning gap issue. The paper argues that being taught in a language
other than their own can negatively impact children's learning. </p><p>UNESCO
GMR director Aaron Benavot shared with me some serious concerns and
relevant suggestions based on the paper. "The core finding of the policy
paper is that as much as 40% of the global population does not have
access to education in a language they speak or understand. Evidence
shows that speaking a language that is not spoken in the classroom
frequently holds back a child's learning, especially for those living in
poverty," Benavot noted. </p><blockquote class="">
<span class=""> Interestingly, learning improves in countries that have invested in bilingual programmes. </span></blockquote><p>The
paper shows that children--but, obviously!--learn better when they can
understand the language of instruction. "You only need look at some
international and regional learning assessments and country examples to
see the evidence. In many Western African school systems, French
continues to be the main language of instruction, so the vast majority
of children are taught from the early grades in a language with which
they have limited familiarity. This seriously hampers their chances of
learning. In Côte d'Ivoire, 55% of grade 5 students who speak the test
language at home learned the basics in reading in 2008, compared with
only 25% of the 8 out of 10 students who speak another language,"
Benavot added. </p><p>Interestingly, learning improves in countries that
have invested in bilingual programmes. Take the case of Guatemala where
students in bilingual schools have lower repetition and dropout rates.
They also have higher scores in all subject areas. Children in Ethiopia
who participated in bilingual programmes for eight years improved their
learning in subjects across the curriculum.</p><p><a href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-04-10-1460263241-5368335-Benavot.jpg"><img alt="2016-04-10-1460263241-5368335-Benavot.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-04-10-1460263241-5368335-Benavot-thumb.jpg" height="570" width="456"></a><br>
<em>Aaron Benavot</em></p><p>"After analyzing various countries'
experiences we can see that at least six years of mother tongue
instruction is needed to reduce learning gaps for minority language
speakers. It is therefore vital for education policies to recognise the
importance of mother tongue learning,'' suggested Benavot. </p><p>The
UNESCO paper recognises that bilingual education is not an easy policy
to implement. It is expensive, and creates challenges within the
education system, notably in areas of teacher recruitment, curriculum
development and the provision of teaching materials. But, according to
the GMR director, it is a vital investment.</p><blockquote class="">
<span class=""> The fault lines of violent conflict have often
followed the contours of group-based inequality exacerbated by language
policies in education.
</span></blockquote><p>The
paper also looks at the imposition of single dominant languages as the
language of instruction in schools as a frequent source of grievances
linked to wider issues of social and cultural inequality. The fault
lines of violent conflict have often followed the contours of
group-based inequality exacerbated by language policies in education.</p><p>Benavot
highlights the examples of Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh to explain
this. "In Nepal, the imposition of Nepali as the language of instruction
fed into the broader set of grievances among non-Nepali speaking castes
and ethnic minorities that drove the civil war."</p><p>The report also cites the example of Pakistan:</p><blockquote><p>"In
Pakistan, the post-independence government adopted Urdu as the national
language and the language of instruction in schools. This became a
source of alienation in a country that was home to six major linguistic
groups and fifty-eight smaller ones. The failure to recognize Bengali,
spoken by the vast majority of the population in East Pakistan, was one
of the major sources of conflict within the new country, leading to
student riots in 1952. The riots gave birth to the Bengali Language
Movement, a precursor to the movement that fought for the secession of
East Pakistan and the creation of a new country, Bangladesh.<br>
Both countries have continued to face language-related political
challenges. In Bangladesh, where Bengali is the national language,
non-Bengali speaking tribal groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have
cited a perceived injustice over language as a factor that justifies
their secession demands. In Pakistan, the continued use of Urdu as the
language of instruction in government schools, even though it is spoken
at home by less than 8% of the population, has also contributed to
political tensions."</p></blockquote><blockquote class="">
<span class="">It is important to invest in bilingual education for at least six years in countries where there are many minority languages. </span></blockquote><p>Language
is a symbol that reflects the culture of one's community and ethnic
identity. Learning and speaking in one's own mother tongue can create a
sense of personal identity and group attachment. While it strengthens an
ethnic group's sense of belonging and social ties, it can also turn
into a basis for their marginalization. It would be disastrous if the
governments give space for the latter outcome to happen. </p><p>UNESCO
and Benavot hope that the findings of the new paper will show ministers
of education how important it is to invest in bilingual education for at
least six years in countries where there are many minority languages so
that children's learning does not suffer.</p><p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/dipin-damodharan/why-schools-need-to-inves_b_9653096.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.in/dipin-damodharan/why-schools-need-to-inves_b_9653096.html</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>