Feburary 21, 2016
Dr Catherine Deynu, NDC Deputy Women Organiser
International Mother Language Day celebrates linguistic and cultural diversity alongside multilingualism as a force for peace and sustainable development.
As we work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while mapping out a post-2016 national elections in Ghana, this diversity can encourage dialogue, mutual understanding, unity and peace in our country.
This in turn can help us build more just and inclusive societies. As the late President Nelson Mandela once said, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart".
The theme for this year’s observances is “Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes.”
This underlines the importance of mother languages for quality education and linguistic diversity, to take forward the changing lives and transforming Ghana Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential components of quality education, which in itself is the foundation for empowering women and men and their societies, especially the situation in Ghana.
Additionally, the theme spotlights the vital role of education and the local languages in advancing culture and science . This will help ensure that the latest scientific knowledge is more widely shared. At the same time, it will help deepen and enrich our national knowledge base with more traditional but often overlooked scientific wisdom.
As the day is being marked with quality education, language of instruction and learning, I seize this opportunity to call on all Ghanaians to stand up for free but quality education being propagated by the government.
I also urge all parents and guardians to enrol their wards into formal education to learn not only the English language but our diverse local dialects so they could become the future leaders to move this nation’s development agenda forward.
Nice message
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