To summarize: The research studies that are available at this point show that MTB MLE does help girls to achieve academic success in primary school. We can assume as above, that as more girls achieve academic success in primary school, the doors to secondary education will also open to them.
Final comments
The evidence is quite clear that forcing children from minority language communities to attend schools that do not let them use their MT for learning leaves those children educationally, economically, politically, and socially marginalized. Ultimately, implementing MTB MLE is a choice between two costs. One is the social and economic cost of leaving a significant part of the population undereducated, year-after-year. The other is the economic cost of implementing MTB MLE programmes that have been proven effective in meeting the educational needs of children from minority language communities. Only one of those two choices is likely to enable multilingual nations to achieve quality education for all.
Booklet for Policy Makers
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