Children who learn in their mother tongue do better in school and are less likely to drop out.  Over 220 million children do not have access to education in their own language. These children are less likely to succeed in school and are more likely to fall behind or drop out. Over 75% of the world's out-of-school girls are ethnic, linguistic, or religious minorities.

Children learn best in a language they understand. They become proficient readers more quickly when learning in the language they speak at home than when using a language that is only used in school. Children also learn subject matter better when they do not have to simultaneously decipher a new language. A strong foundation of reading and learning in the mother tongue even improves acquisition of second language literacy and fluency and contributes to a student's long-term success.

SIL LEAD's Work in Multilingual Education

SIL LEAD uses its expertise in mother tongue-based multilingual education to improve reading and learning. We help to establish a foundation of learning and literacy in a language that students speak at home and gradually build competence in additional languages.

Our training and technical assistance helps:

• communities to create and manage a library of locally created reading materials in their language that are age and grade appropriate

• education officials to build or adapt curricula to accommodate multiple languages and to develop new pedagogical materials in the mother tongue

• teachers and teacher trainers to develop contextually appropriate pedagogical approaches for reading instruction

From the Blog...