SIL advocates language-based approaches to learning setbacks at UNESCO Bangkok event

Kirk Person (left), Philina Ng (center), and Kimmo Kosonen (right) represented SIL International at the 2nd Asia Pacific Regional Education Minister’s Conference convened in Bangkok June 5-7 by the regional offices of UNESCO and UNICEF. Many of the 46 Ministers of Education invited to this hybrid meeting attended in-person, while others joined online.

As core members of the Asia-Pacific Multilingual Education Working Group, SIL partnered with UNESCO to organize a side event entitled “Building Back Better: Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB MLE) for Ethnic Minority Children.” Speakers included Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Secretariat Director Ethel Valezuela, former Philippines Undersecretary of Education Dina Ocampo and SIL Senior Literacy and Education consultant Kirk Person. 

Valenzuela presented key findings from the award-winning Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics program, which found significant literacy and numeracy gaps between ethno-linguistic minority and majority children across multiple countries on the basis of home language. COVID-19 likely exacerbated these educational inequalities.

This problem is not limited to Southeast Asia. Person cited a recent World Bank study estimating that nearly 40% of the global population lacks access to education in a language they speak fluently. UNESCO has warned that children whose home language is not used in school face compound barriers to learning which have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

 

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously presided over the opening ceremony.
Photo credit: Ministry of Education, Thailand.

Ocampo described how the Philippines recently issued new guidelines by which communities are empowered to create their own MTB-MLE programs for grades K-3. Forty-six language groups have taken advantage of this policy, and as result MTB-MLE is now offered in 65 Filipino languages (including sign language).

In response, Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa, Director of the Division for Education 2030 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, affirmed her commitment to MTB-MLE ahead of the Transforming Education Summit set to convene this September at the 77th UN General Assembly. She further pointed to the links between SDG 4’s* vision for equitable quality education and the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-32).  

 

Ethel Valenzuela (left) and Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa (right) during their events. Photo credit: Philina Ng.

Awareness of the link between language and learning was reflected in the conference outcome document endorsed by the attending ministers, which calls for “Adapting curricula to learners from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and promoting access to initial literacy and further learning in the mother tongue”.  

The side event virtual recording can be found on the event webpage.

More information on APREMC-II can be found on the conference website.

*One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, SDG 4 seeks “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.