INTERNATIONAL Mother Language Day is celebrated each year on February 21.
This brilliant idea to celebrate the language a person has grown up speaking from childhood according to Mint news publication was an initiative of Bangladesh.
It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and declared an International Day of Celebration by the United Nations in 2000.
In its 24th year of celebration, this year’s theme is ‘multilingual education – a necessity to transform education’.
According to Mint news publication this day aims to celebrate the ways of expressing the world in its multiplicity, committing to the preservation of the diversity of languages as a common heritage, and working for quality education in mother tongues for all.
UNESCO in this Tweet highlighted that more than 6700 languages are spoken worldwide but at least 40 per cent are threatened with extinction and that the classroom has a vital role to play in keeping them alive.
The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs commemorated this special day by hosting an event with a strong emphasis on strengthening mother tongue languages.
The chief guest at the event was iTaukei linguistic Dr Apolonia Tamata from the University of the South Pacific. She reiterated the importance of the day.
“We must ensure that our mother tongue is not only being used through the media, but in other new medium too and of course in our communication within the family or community,” Ms Tamata said.
