The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) joins the world in commemorating the INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY with a strong support for the initiative, as it helps in ensuring no language goes extinct.
The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and has been observed throughout the world since 2000 to be celebrated every 21st February.
CAN strongly believes believes in the high importance of cultural connectivity and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies, communities and peaceful co-existence.
Globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand. Nevertheless, progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life.
With this, CAN is calling on the educational sector in Nigeria to support language education and make it an effort to encourage Nigerian languages that are taught in schools.
Linguistic diversity(link is external) is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear.
Multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way.
The theme of the 2022 International Mother Language Day is “USING TECHNOLOGY FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNING: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES”.
This theme is expected to discuss and unveil the potential role of technology in advancing multilingual education, and will also serve as a support system for the development of quality teaching and learning for all.
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