Save the Children campaign on the Languages of Schooling

Save the Children have recently launched a campaign to share experiences of additional language teaching. Up to 221 million children speak local languages not used in education, and Save the Children note that there is clear evidence that teaching in an unfamiliar language can destroy children's learning and force them out of school, setting back the achievement of key education goals. In many countries, they argue that it is a significant challenge to get the language of teaching right.

The charity has set up an online forum to encourage further discussion on this dilemmas and how to move towards teaching in languages that children understand, whilst introducing national and international languages. They have appealed for ideas, experience, advice and challenges to help develop guidance and action on getting language and education right. http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/?p=4582

The web page is a simple blog format to encourage easy input which does not require a log in. The cross cultural/transnational online discussion can be viewed now and results will be made available in different formats during 2010.