CBSE schools across the country will observe 'Matribhasha Diwas' tomorrow. UNESCO had announced February 21 as the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) in 1999 and it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2008.
The board has released a list of suggested activities which the schools can organize. The activities include reading of the preamble in mother tongue, essay competition, debate, and quiz competition on the linguist diversity of India etc.
The celebration and activities should focus on highlighting the linguist diversity of our country and help students understand the diversity of cultures.
CBSE has also directed school heads to submit a report to the board on the activities organized to celebrate the Mother Tongue Day.
MHRD, too, will be celebrating the Mother Tongue Day on February 20. The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest at the event and Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' will be the guest of honor. The theme of the programme will be 'Celebrating our Multilingual Heritage' reflecting the spirit of 'Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat'.
MHRD has also called upon educational institutes and language institutes to celebrate the day.
According to the 2011 census data, India is home to about 121 languages out of which 22 are Scheduled languages. The number of 121 was arrived after scrutiny and classification of data received which initially totaled the number of mother tongue in India at 19,569.
As per the 2011 census data, 43.63 per cent population in India speaks Hindi. After Hindi, Bengali is the second most spoken language and Marathi is the third most spoken language. 8.03 per cent population speaks Bengali and 6.86 per cent population speaks Marathi in India.
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