The theme of this year's International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2013 is "Books for mother tongue education".

In 1999, UNESCO decided to launch an International Mother Language Day (IMLD) to be observed throughout the world each year on 21 February.

The European Commission and UNESCO have called for joint action to reduce the number of young people and adults lacking basic reading and writing skills, both in Europe and world-wide, at a meeting in the European Parliament on 22 January.

The European Year of Citizens 2013 is dedicated to the rights that come with EU citizenship. Over this year, the European Union will encourage dialogue between all levels of government, civil society and business at events and conferences around Europe to discuss those EU rights and build a vision of how the EU should be in 2020. The Year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Union citizenship under the Maastricht Treaty.

The Learning Teacher Magazine 4/2012 has now been published. This edition of the Magazine contains articles such as Dyscalculia; Europeana; Multilingual children in the classroom; Schools and Internship; Mentoring and Academic Spirit walking; Inquiry based science education; reflections from the Creativity and Learning course 2012; and much more.