Children should be imparted education in their mother tongue, according to United Nations Independent expert on Minority issues. The children from linguistic minorities should be taught in their mother tongue for long term results, according to the report submitted by the UN Independent expert on Minority issues.
United Nations Independent expert Fernand de Varennes submitted the report to Human Rights Council, Geneva. He said that the children taught in their mother tongue will help in boosting the quality of education.
Learning in this way will also help in the respect of human rights of all children, he said. Fernand de Varennes said that this type of education is effective in the long term. This would also help in reduced dropout rates. The expert said that this will lead to better academic results, especially for girls. Learning in their own language will improve levels of literacy and fluency in mother tongue and official language.
The report also mentioned that learning in one’s first language helps to get better jobs. Moreover, it will also boost the self-esteem of minority students. The report also notes that teaching in their own mother tongue will help in increasing their contribution to the world’s development agenda. The UN Expert also calls for recognising sign languages.
