Lost in translation: The case for mother-tongue instruction

Originally published in Manila Bulletin

For years, our basic education system has insisted that children in kindergarten and Grades 1–3 learn exclusively in English—an approach at once colonial in origin and deeply counterproductive. On the one hand, it outright bans instruction in the very languages spoken at home; on the other, it leaves young learners grasping at a foreign tongue before they have mastered the fundamentals of reading and reasoning.

Recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority sound an alarm. In 2024, nearly 18.96 million Filipino junior and senior high school completers—graduates of our basic education system—could not read and understand a simple story . At the same Senate hearing chaired by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, it emerged that only 79 percent of senior high graduates are “functionally literate;” the remaining 21 percent walked across the graduation stage effectively unable to comprehend basic texts . Even more troubling, some 5.8 million Filipinos lack basic literacy—unable to read and write with understanding and perform elementary arithmetic . These numbers belie decades of schooling and point squarely at a foundational mismatch: children are being taught in a language they have not yet acquired.

Extensive research shows that early-grade instruction in a child’s mother tongue is not merely a nicety but a necessity for quality learning. UNESCO has long championed mother tongue-based multilingual education, noting that “education in the mother tongue … improves learning outcomes and academic performance” and helps avoid knowledge gaps that undermine later progress. A recent UNESCO policy brief calls on governments to “integrate multilingual education into curricula from early grades, prioritizing mother-tongue instruction” as a cornerstone of inclusive schooling.

Here in the Philippines, the Department of Education’s own Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program—intended for Kindergarten to Grade 3—has delivered measurable gains. Studies report significant improvements in reading proficiency and overall academic achievement among learners taught initially in their first language alongside English and Filipino. Yet despite these successes, implementation remains uneven, and the default medium of instruction remains English-only in most public schools.

The consequences extend beyond test scores. Our regional and indigenous languages—more than 175 of them—are already under threat as children grow up never learning to read or write in their ancestral tongues. Each language lost takes with it unique worldviews, oral histories, songs, and ecological knowledge. By denying learners instruction in their mother tongues, we accelerate language shift, weaken intergenerational transmission, and impoverish our shared cultural heritage.

Reversing this trend demands bold policy shifts. DepEd must:

• Mandate MTB-MLE across all regions, supported by adequate teaching materials, trained local-language teachers, and community-driven curriculum development.

• Phase in bilingual transition models so that once foundational literacy is secured in the mother tongue, students move confidently to English and Filipino in higher grades.

• Monitor and report literacy outcomes disaggregated by language group, ensuring that no child is left behind because instruction was delivered in an unfamiliar tongue.

• Empower local governments and cultural communities to document, revitalize, and transmit their languages through school libraries, media, and extracurricular programs.

By rethinking our English-only policy at the primary level, we not only boost reading comprehension and reduce the 19 million “functional illiterates” languishing in our system—but also affirm the linguistic dignity of every Filipino child. Investing in mother tongue-based education is an investment in both equity and excellence. It is time to end the ban on minority tongues—and, in doing so, safeguard our nation’s future by rooting literacy in the languages children know best.

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