To celebrate UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day, the NSW Department of Education is highlighting programs we offer to keep languages alive.
Since 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day to celebrate students’ universal right to study their heritage languages.
The day traces its origin to 21 February 1952 when five Bangladeshi students were shot dead for breaking a curfew to protest their right to speak Bangla, their mother tongue.
Under relentless pressure following the shootings, the Pakistan Government (which governed the region that became Bangladesh) recognised Bangla as an official language in 1956.
To coincide with this year’s celebration of International Mother Language Day, a new global think-tank of heritage language academics and practitioners will launch a global call to action for the preservation and revitalisation of heritage language education for multilingual children worldwide.
