3.2 MLE: the benefits The benefits of mother tongue first MLE programmes have been amply demonstrated. Schooling becomes comprehensible and therefore relevant. Enrolment increases, dropout rates are reduced, children stay in school longer. They no longer arrive late and leave after the free midday meal). Teachers are happier being able to communicate freely with the children, children are learning, parents and the community are involved (SSA evaluation of the Andhra Pradesh MLE, 2006). During discussions which the author had with these communities in December 2006 parents reported that children were sharing with them what they had learnt; something which never happened when schooling took place only in the second language. Parents were requesting literacy lessons themselves from the teachers! The World Bank (2005) suggests that, because of the reduced dropout and repetition, that even though the initial costs may be high, it is more cost effective in the long term, to implement mother tongue programmes. Children from the Koya language community listening to a story in their classroom for the first time in their mother tongue. 4. Developing MLE Programmes: the difficulties and challenges a) Negative perceptions of MLE There are various negative perceptions of MLE, but these mainly come from the dominant language community who misunderstand the purpose of using mother tongue education. Some will suggest that using the mother tongues of minority communities is a waste of time and resources and since they need the dominant language it is best if they learn it as soon as possible for as long as possible (submersion model). Some resistance is shown by both educated members of minority groups and some parents who will argue that the children already know their mother tongue and they come to school to learn new things. But the problem is that the majority drop out before they reach a place where they can understand. b) Lack of positive policies There is often no recognition or official status given to minority languages. With no clear policy on the use of mother tongues, to use the dominant language only becomes the easiest route, even if ineffective. Uniformity in an education results in an inflexible system and the quality of the education