Mother tongue-based education is changing lives in deep South

Think back to your very first day of school. Now imagine what it would have been like if you could not understand the language that your teachers were speaking. What would that be like? And how would you feel if you finished sixth grade, but still could not read or write?

That is the reality for an estimated 240 million children who do not have access to education in their first or home language. Many are in school, but not learning anything at all.

The United Nations’ International Mother Language Day, which falls today, exists to draw attention to…