Himangshu Ranjan Bhuyan
(hrbhuyancolumnist@gmail.com)
The language a child hears first, the one in which lullabies are sung, stories are told, and family traditions are passed down, is far more than a medium of communication—it is the deepest expression of identity, culture, and belonging. As societies grow increasingly globalised and education systems across the world lean toward dominant international languages, the critical role of the mother tongue in early education stands at a crossroads. Nowhere is this debate more relevant than in multilingual nations like India, where linguistic diversity coexists with aspirations for global competitiveness. At the heart of this discussion lies a fundamental question: Should schools teach children in the language they understand best—their mother tongue—or should they prioritise so-called ‘global’ or ‘national’ languages that supposedly offer better economic mobility? The answer to this is not just pedagogical but profoundly cultural and political. It points to the necessity of safeguarding the child’s right to learn in a language that nourishes their roots while equipping them for the world.
Educational research globally and domestically affirms that children learn best when taught in their mother tongue during the foundational years of schooling. Cognitive development in early childhood is intricately linked with language. When a child learns in the language they have grown up with, they are more likely to understand concepts faster, retain knowledge more effectively, and engage actively with the learning process. The mother tongue serves as a bridge between home and school, between what the child knows and what the school seeks to teach. In contrast, instruction in an unfamiliar language can act as a barrier, alienating the child from the classroom and turning education into a mechanical process of rote memorization rather than meaningful understanding. Many children, especially in rural or tribal areas, drop out of school not due to lack of interest or ability, but because they cannot cope with the burden of learning in a language that is not their own.
Moreover, when children are taught in their mother tongue, it nurtures their sense of identity and pride in their heritage. Language is not a neutral medium; it carries within it centuries of culture, wisdom, and worldview. When schools use the local language, they validate the child’s background and affirm their place in the world. On the contrary, when education is conducted solely in dominant or foreign languages, children from non-dominant linguistic communities often internalize a sense of inferiority about their own culture. This leads to linguistic insecurity, identity conflict, and gradual erosion of linguistic diversity. India, with its hundreds of languages and dialects, is already witnessing such a crisis, where many mother tongues are disappearing because they are no longer seen as ‘useful’ in modern life. Education in mother tongues is thus not just a pedagogic necessity but a means of cultural survival.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has, to its credit, recognised the importance of mother tongue-based education. It advocates the use of mother tongue or regional language as the medium of instruction at least up to Grade 5, and preferably till Grade 8. The policy rests on sound educational reasoning and global evidence. However, its implementation remains patchy and faces resistance, particularly from urban elites who equate English-medium education with quality and success. This attitude is fuelled by deeply entrenched societal hierarchies where certain languages are linked with power and privilege, while others are seen as backward. Parents, even from rural or non-English-speaking backgrounds, often prefer English-medium schools, believing this is the only way their children can succeed in a competitive economy. While this aspiration is understandable, it is based on the false assumption that learning English early is essential for success, even if it comes at the cost of poor conceptual understanding in the foundational years.
Contrary to popular belief, research shows that children who receive strong foundational education in their mother tongue are better positioned to learn additional languages, including English, later. The idea is not to limit children to one language but to strengthen their base in the one they know best and gradually build multilingual competencies. Multilingual education does not mean choosing one language over another—it means sequencing the learning of languages in a child-friendly manner. A solid grounding in the mother tongue, supplemented by the introduction of second and third languages at appropriate stages, ensures both conceptual clarity and language skills. Countries such as Finland, South Korea, and Ethiopia, which have implemented mother tongue-based multilingual education effectively, report higher learning outcomes and improved literacy rates.
However, challenges to implementing mother tongue-based education are many. First, there is the issue of standardizing and developing instructional material in various mother tongues, especially in regions with diverse dialects. Many indigenous languages lack written scripts or standardized grammar. Secondly, there is a severe shortage of trained teachers who can teach in these languages. Moreover, administrative and institutional inertia continues to prioritize dominant languages in curriculum design, teacher training, and assessment. Policymakers also face dilemmas in deciding which language should be the medium when multiple languages are spoken within a single geographical area. The politics of language is deeply intertwined with questions of power, identity, and nationalism, making such decisions highly sensitive.
Yet, the cost of ignoring the mother tongue is far greater. It leads to a system where children are technically in school but not learning meaningfully. Learning poverty—defined as the inability of a 10-year-old to read and understand a simple text—remains high in India, and one of its root causes is the mismatch between home language and school language. In many tribal belts of central and eastern India, dropout rates are disproportionately high among students whose home languages differ from the school’s medium of instruction. For such children, school becomes an alien environment, and their cultural worldview is neither represented nor respected.
It is also important to remember that the mother tongue is more than a pedagogic tool—it is a repository of local knowledge, folk traditions, songs, oral histories, and environmental wisdom. Incorporating local languages in education creates room for localized content that connects with the community’s lived experiences. Such an education is not only more effective but also more democratic, inclusive, and respectful of pluralism. It transforms education from an imposed process into a participatory one, where the child sees their own world reflected in the classroom. In contrast, teaching solely in an external language can produce alienated learners who do not relate to what they are taught and lose touch with their roots.
There is also an urgent need to shift public perception. The dominance of English in Indian educational aspirations is not entirely unfounded—it is linked to jobs, social mobility, and status. But the assumption that early English-medium instruction ensures better English proficiency is misleading. Many English-medium schools in semi-urban and rural areas provide neither quality English education nor effective learning in any subject, leading to students who are poorly educated in both content and communication. A more balanced approach is to provide quality education in the mother tongue during the early years while introducing English (and other languages) gradually with qualified language teachers and well-designed curricula. This dual approach not only ensures better learning outcomes but also reduces the burden on children, enhances their self-confidence, and allows them to grow into truly multilingual citizens.
In Assam, as in many other states, the future of Assamese and tribal-medium government schools hangs in the balance, not because they are inherently flawed but because societal attitudes have shifted away from them. English-medium private schools are mushrooming even in remote areas, while mother tongue schools struggle with declining enrolment and crumbling infrastructure. The danger is not just the decline of a particular medium but the deeper disconnection from the region’s cultural identity, stories, and knowledge systems. If children no longer learn in their mother tongue, who will read the literature of the land, sing its songs, or pass on its traditions?
The responsibility thus lies not just with the government but with society at large. Teachers, parents, linguists, activists, and community leaders must work together to reimagine the role of mother tongues in education. This includes reviving and modernising traditional knowledge systems, producing creative and contemporary literature in local languages, training bilingual teachers, and using digital tools to make mother tongue content engaging. It also means recognising that no language is inferior, and no child’s future is doomed because they are educated in their own language—on the contrary, their roots make them stronger.
Ultimately, the goal of education is not just to prepare children for jobs but to help them become thoughtful, confident, and connected individuals. Language is the thread that binds the child to their community and the world. Denying children the right to learn in their mother tongue is not only educationally unsound but also ethically unjust. It deprives them of the joy of learning, the pride in their culture, and the confidence of being understood. If India truly aspires to be an inclusive, educated, and multilingual society, it must place the mother tongue at the centre of its educational imagination—not at the margins. The future of language is the future of learning itself.