Paving the way...

The North east India Multilingual Education Symposium was held at Don Bosco Reach out at Ulubari, Guwahati from October 23rd to November 1st, 2010. This symposium was a joint venture of the Department of Linguistics, Gauhati University and the Summer Institute of Linguistics, International to promote and advocate the cause of Multilingual Education for the linguistically disadvantaged communities in the Northeast India. The symposium was participated by a wide range of participants ranging from global literacy experts from different countries all over the world to university students who are presently working with different tribal communities, along with the members of some of the those communities. Participation of members of government agency like SCERT helped bringing practical issues regarding implementing such Mother Tongue based Multilingual (MTB-MLE)Education Programme through government system in this region. A number of interesting presentations of case studies of MTB-MLE in communities like Singpho, Amri-karbi, Bodo, Rabha etc added a new dimension to the overall success of the symposium. This symposium focussed at presenting a big picture on the necessity of Multilingual Education for the linguistically disadvantaged group of children. Participants from different background went through some theoretical understanding along with some interesting practical sessions. This symposium was really a dream come true for the MLE activists in NE India.