According to Independent Education Today, mother-tongue education improves learning abilities in adolescents.
Research has found that learning in one’s mother tongue can have a positive impact on the cognitive abilities of youth.
A study conducted by the Department of Education revealed that 75% of learners who took assessments in their mother tongue obtained significantly higher scores than fellow learners who had to respond to the assessment tasks in their second or third language.
“Research shows that interactive reading and learning increases motivation by 67% and comprehension by 76%. Our goal is to help increase mother tongue literacy and encourage our children to read more in their mother tongue,” said Kgosi Kgosi of Roundafire, a digital children’s literacy solution.
“Having children read content they can relate to will help in the country’s efforts to establish a culture of reading among our youth.”
According to Kgosi, 78% of South Africa’s population is illiterate.
“We aim to solve this by delivering interactive stories to children in their mother tongue.”
- International Mother Language Day was observed on Sunday (21/02).
