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Professor Dumisani Sibiya says children in early grades benefit greatly from learning in their mother tongue.
As today marks International Mother Language Day, there’s been an emphasis on the need for mother tongue based education, in South Africa.
The day is observed annually on February 21 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, as proclaimed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in 1999.
[QUESTION OF THE DAY]
As we are celebrating International Mother Language Day, What aspects of your mother tongue make you feel most proud of your roots?#MorningLive#sabcnews pic.twitter.com/wsxsJumMD6
— SABCNews_MorningLive (@MorningLiveSABC) February 21, 2026
The day highlights that over 40% of the world’s languages are endangered. The head of department for African Languages at the University of Johannesburg Professor Dumisani Sibiya says children in early grades benefit greatly from learning in their mother tongue.
“Research demonstrates that mother tongue based education is the way to go it helps a lot in terms of achieving the right outcome and it supports cognitive development especially with the young ones in the early grades. It is emphasized that we use mother tongue based multilingual education. Better understanding of the learners and I think at higher education level,” says Professor Sibiya.
VIDEO | Celebrating International Mother Language Day with Professor Dumisani Sibiya:
