President of Mother Language Lovers of World Society, Mohd. Aminul Islam received the award on behalf of the Society.
Under the chairmanship of Education Minister Deepu Moni, Member of Parliament, Secretary, Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Suleman Khan gave the welcome speech.
Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, MP and Susan Marie Weiss, in-charge of the UNESCO Dhaka Office, also spoke.
Prof. Pabitra Sarkar, Former Vice-Chancellor, Rabindra Bharati University, gave a keynote presentation focusing on “The need for multilingual education in a multilingual world”, while Prof. Hakeem Arif, Director General, IMLI, proposed the vote of thanks.
At the outset of the ceremony, a minute’s silence was observed remembering the heroes of the Language Movement for their sacrifices.
A video documentary titled “Bangabandhu and the Language Movement” was screened, followed by the singing of Ekushi and the National Anthem.
Children from various countries including Bangladesh, India, Australia, Algeria, Japan, China, Russia and France greeted the Prime Minister in their mother tongue on the occasion of International Mother Language Day.