The DBE is currently hosting a groundbreaking Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education Summit (MTbBE) from 26 to 28 February 2026, at the Premier Hotel, OR Tambo in the Gauteng Province, under the theme: “Language First, Learning Forever: from Cradle throughout the System”.
The purpose of this high-level national engagement is to review implementation progress by examining system evidence and learning outcomes to chart the future trajectory of MTbBE as a coherent, system-wide reform. The Summit will move beyond a Grade 4 implementation focus and position MTbBE as a vertically aligned educational framework spanning from Early Childhood Development (ECD) through the schooling system.
The Summit is presented in alignment with UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day 2026, observed annually on 21 February, which highlights the 2026 theme: “Many languages, one future: Youth voices on multilingual education.” This theme underscores the critical role of young people in shaping the future of education and promoting linguistic diversity for sustainable development, inclusion, and cultural preservation.
Dr Naledi Mbude-Mehana, DDG for Transformation Programmes, reflected on 2025 as a historic turning point in the basic education sector, the year South Africa began implementing Grade 4 MTbBE on a large scale. She highlighted the shift from transitional multilingualism to a strengthened bilingual model, marking the introduction of the country’s first international bilingual Grade 4 teaching, learning and assessment milestones. A significant reform accompanied this transition: the DBE formally redefined “LoLT” from “Language of Learning and Teaching” to “Languages of Learning, Teaching, and Assessment,” affirming a more inclusive and system-wide approach to multilingual education. All Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) presented their respective provincial case studies on the 2025 implementation, reflecting on progress, system lessons, and the collective commitment to strengthening bilingual learning across the sector.
President Cyril Ramaphosa accentuated the importance of strengthening foundational learning through the continued and expanded rollout of MTbBE in South Africa during his State of the Nation (SoNA) address. During the recent Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, the President reminded the sector: “Since 1996, our Constitution has enshrined multilingualism as a social, educational and economic norm. By the end of 2025, nearly 12,000 schools had access to MTbBE”. He encouraged the Department to continue to work at expanding teacher training in appropriate methodologies, ensuring curriculum and assessment alignment, and integrating language development across literacy and numeracy.
The MTbBE Summit aims to: Secure system-wide alignment across national, provincial and district stakeholders on the operational interpretation and implementation parameters of the MTbBE Strategy; Review the 2025 Grade 4 rollout through consolidated system evidence, identifying implementation progress, contextual challenges and priority areas for refinement; Analyse learner assessment data and classroom practices in order to guide targeted interventions that strengthen literacy, numeracy and bilingual content learning outcomes; Develop a phased expansion pathway positioning MTbBE as a vertically aligned reform from ECD through the Foundation and Intermediate Phases; Strengthen system capacity through strategic partnerships, teacher development frameworks, resource provisioning and institutional collaboration; Establish a monitoring, research and policy calibration framework, including technical engagement on bilingual transition modelling (the ratio) and early language development (National Language Nutrition Framework), to inform context-responsive implementation and future national adoption pathways.