Authors

Saah Agyemang-Badu, graduate student, human rights and public administration, University of Connecticut

Abstract

Background: Language-in-education policies across many African countries continue to privilege colonial languages, often marginalizing Indigenous languages and limiting access to culturally grounded and equitable education. Instruction conducted primarily in English, French, or Portuguese can distance learners from community knowledge systems and constrain critical engagement with issues of justice and human rights.

Purpose: This paper proposes a justice-oriented framework that integrates Human Rights Education (HRE) and Social Justice Education (SJE) within Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE).

Methodology/Approach: The study employs conceptual analysis informed by linguistic human rights scholarship, critical pedagogy, postcolonial theory, and research on multilingual education. Curricular exemplification is used to illustrate how human rights and social justice concepts can be embedded in first-language instruction.

Findings/Conclusions: The analysis suggests that integrating HRE and SJE within MTB-MLE can strengthen linguistic identity, foster critical consciousness, and expand opportunities for academic engagement and civic participation. However, effective implementation depends on coherent language policy, sustained teacher preparation, and collaboration with local communities.

Implications: Reframing language policy as a human rights issue shifts debates about multilingual education from questions of efficiency to questions of justice. The proposed framework contributes to scholarship on culturally sustaining pedagogy and justice-centered language education, highlighting the importance of positioning African languages at the center of equitable educational futures.