International Mother Language Day is celebrated on February 21

It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference to preserve linguistic and cultural diversity. The International Mother Language Day celebration 2024 theme is “Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning”. Today, 250 million children and young people still do not attend school and 763 million adults do not master basic literacy skills. Mother tongue education supports learning, literacy, and the acquisition of additional languages.

In Kutaisi, the Department of Georgian Philology at Akaki Tsereteli State University, along with the Kartvelology Scientific-Research Center, spearheads high-level teaching and research on the native language. Each year, the university hosts scientific conferences, a week dedicated to State Language Day (April 14th), expeditions, and a variety of targeted events focused on research into the Georgian language. Additionally, educational and scientific periodicals are published, featuring works by both Georgian and foreign authors with a focus on the humanities, studies, new dialect texts, and other relevant content.