Every year, StoryWeaver marks International Mother Language Day in an effort to highlight that learning to read in one’s mother tongue early in school helps reduce dropout rates and makes education more engaging, meaningful and enjoyable for children.
UNESCO reports that children learn better in their mother tongue, but 40% of the global population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand. The disruption of education systems due to COVID-19 has deepened inequities. The need for high-quality multilingual children’s books is more urgent than ever.
In keeping with UNESCO's theme for the 2021 International Mother Language Day - “Fostering multilingualism for
inclusion in education and society” - we are renewing our commitment to progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education For All, by giving children around the world free access to books in their mother tongue.
We are delighted to announce that entries are now open for the 5th edition of our 'Freedom to Read' campaign, which focuses on the co-creation of of open digital libraries in local languages.
This year, we look forward to collaborating with government education departments, state education ministries, government language and culture promotion boards, civil society organisations, language promotion organisations, NGOs and large advocacy groups that work with children.
StoryWeaver will train and skill each of the selected partners to translate and share an open digital library of at least 50 high-quality books, in a language of their choice.
Access the campaign guidelines and FAQs here:
https://bit.ly/FreedomToRead-FAQsYou can also email us at
storyweaver@prathambooks.org or send us a message on WhatsApp at +91-9886110408.
With your help, we can make much-needed children’s books available in more languages, and give more children the opportunity and freedom to read.
