‘Bhasha’ matters in India’s multilingual moment, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• UNESCO's 2025 State of Education Report for India, "Bhasha Matters," emphasizes mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE).
• Nearly 44% of Indian children begin school speaking a different language than the medium of instruction.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 prioritizes the child’s home language in early education.
• Odisha has a multilingual education program spanning 21 tribal languages across 17 districts, supporting nearly 90,000 children.
• The report recommends a National Mission for Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education to coordinate efforts across sectors.

Detailed Insights:

• India has over 1,300 mother tongues and 121 constitutionally recognised languages, making linguistic diversity a national strength.
• MTB-MLE is crucial because safeguarding languages preserves accumulated knowledge and supports quality education.
• UNESCO advocates for multilingual teaching in the language best understood by students to ensure quality education and recognize their identities.
• The "Bhasha Matters" report offers 10 policy recommendations for a more inclusive education system that values linguistic diversity.
• Initiatives like PM eVIDYA, Adi Vaani, BHASHINI, and AI4Bharat use digital platforms and AI to support multilingual resources and document endangered languages.
• The report stresses state-level language policies, improved teacher training, multilingual materials, community involvement, and investment in language technologies.
• Recognizing and valuing every learner’s language improves learning outcomes, affirms identity, and promotes meaningful participation in society.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE): Education that uses a student's native language as the primary medium of instruction while also teaching additional languages.
• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: A comprehensive framework to transform India's education system, emphasizing holistic development and mother tongue instruction.
• BHASHINI: An AI-powered language translation platform to enable access to services and information in one's own language.