- International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, 2019. The day is observed on the 21st of February every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
- Theme: Since 2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the theme of this year’s Mother Language Day was ‘Indigenous Languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation’.
- UNESCO has been celebrating International Mother Language Day for nearly 20 years with the aim of preserving this linguistic diversity and promoting mother tongue-based multilingual education. Progress is being made in this direction with a growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling.
- According to UN data, at least 43 per cent of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain. The data says that a language disappears every two weeks taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.
