NewStats: 3,259,788 , 8,170,910 topics. Date: Monday, 26 May 2025 at 02:19 AM 4s2v3r

FG seeks reversal of mother tongue policy in primary schools

The Federal Government has urged the National Council on Education (NCE) stakeholders to approve the reversal of the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction from Primary one to six.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, made the appeal at the 2025 Extraordinary National Council on Education Meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

Ahmad also called on the council to approve the review of the national policy on education to restrict the use of mother tongue to Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) and primary one.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NCE had previously advocated for the use of the mother tongue of the immediate environment as the medium of instruction in the first three years of primary education.

This policy aimed to preserve Nigerian languages and enhance foundational learning.

However, the Federal Executive Council approved its implementation on November 30, 2022.

The minister of state highlighted several challenges hindering the implementation of the policy.

“Inconsistencies in policy execution, especially in urban areas and some parts of the country, impede implementation. We use English from the start, contradicting the policy.

"With over 500 languages in Nigeria, implementation becomes complex, making it difficult to select a dominant language in multilingual communities.

“Limited availability of instructional materials and textbooks, among other factors, hinders implementation,” she said.

She added that the ministry and NCE must initiate a policy review to implement the necessary changes.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, also advocated for integrating secondary education into basic education, extending it to 12 years.

Alausa said this initiative aligns with global best practices and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

“Subsuming secondary education into basic education is necessary to improve access, retention, and completion.

“By making secondary education a part of basic education, students will benefit from uninterrupted learning up to the age of 16.

“This reform will also reduce dropout rates by eliminating financial and systemic barriers that currently prevent students from completing secondary education,” he said.

Alausa further explained the importance of converting the Federal Science and Technical Colleges (FSTCs) into Federal Technical Colleges (FTCs).

According to him, technical education facilitates the acquisition of practical and applied skills, enabling young people to develop an intelligent understanding of the increasing complexity of technology.

“This transformation is not just a policy shift; it is a crucial step towards realigning our education system with the demands of an evolving economy and a technologically driven world.

“Another major issue facing the nation is youth unemployment. Nigeria’s youthful demographic has over 60 per cent of the population under the age of 30.

“In tackling this pressing issue, my istration introduced the TVET initiative, which aims to restructure and enhance technical and vocational education in Nigeria.

“This will align educational outcomes with industry demands,” he said.

Speaking on the incorporation of the 16-year minimum ission age policy for tertiary institutions into the NCE framework, the minister said this was necessary to standardise entry requirements for tertiary education.

The meeting brought together commissioners for education from the 36 states and the FCT, heads of agencies, international organisations, and the Deputy Governor of Kano state.

https://guardian.ng/features/education/fg-seeks-reversal-of-mother-tongue-policy-in-primary-schools/#google_vignette

Children should be taught in their mother tongue..... If you have a school with mixed languages, you can use English language but Nigerians should stop using fluent English speaking as measure for intelligence.

Las las... This will help everyone stay in their state, LGA and Ward and school there, so they will be able to develop their own space.

On Kpiiii my bended prick, the first of its name, I swear that,

This, even as a non-financially intensive pursuit, will cost the Nigerian FG huge funds to uncompletely achieve.

Aonkuuse:
Children should be taught in their mother tongue..... If you have a school with mixed languages, you can use English language but Nigerians should stop using fluent English speaking as measure for intelligence.

only Yoruba people think this way. Ethnocentrism in the blood

Nice initiative

Government of no bearing. They don't even know what they are doing again. They are only moving in a circle with no direction. APC is truly a disaster.

Na so one guy dey drag me here for for speaking wrong English!

I sabi both his parents!

Implementing the policy will be difficult in states with many prominent tribes.

It won't be so difficult in SW till you get to Ekiti/Ondo! But they may submit to it.
SE too has some tribal differences too but it should be solvable!
Other regions too may make issues out of any major language selected!

This policy is because yorubas can't speak proper English

English should become the mother tongue. Who mother tongue help when everybody wan japa to English speaking countries!

Yes it's in the law but how many schs are following it..... In a class that you have multiple mother tongue, how will the teacher go about it.... It's a nice initiative by the government

🧐🤔

Which stupid reversal is this?

They should stick to the English, when they get home their parent will teach them their mother tongue...

I was just informing my wife last week that should should inform my kids teacher not to allow my kids speak yoruba, and not to also allow the other kids speak it in class..

When they get home, they should speak it, English should be a solid foundation when they are growing up, so that it won't be difficult for them when they have finally grown up

Welcomed development

But they still teaching with mother tongue in vilages across the country

I approve of this.

especially minority languages are fading off faster than we can imagine.

as a forty year old i have friends who probably just hear our native language but can not speak fluently.

Now that they have married what would they transmit to their kids, absolutely nothing.

so this policy is a brilliant one.

south Africans speak English and their local language simultaneously anywhere no matter the occasion and i find it really cute.

We can do better.

Pelicanbrief:
This policy is because yorubas can't speak proper English

You are not exposed well enough to opine this.
I work with yourubas and I can confirm to you that the educated ones in the context of my experience speak and right good grammar.

The problem is when people in power shift the standards to fit into their weakness.

As far as it is a Hausa person as the minister of education, instead of them working on making the system better, they will focus on bringing down the system to make sure their people's weakness becomes insignificant.

You make your traditional language a medium of instruction if the language is developed enough to fit into reality or if it is flexible enough to fit.

Now, translate these for me in Hausa, Igbo, or Yoruba:

1. Mitochondria
2. Mechanics
3. Atom
4. Differentiation


Major languages like Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, etc. are struggling hard, spending much to learn English, but Nigeria is trying hard to reducce their level of English to meet the level of English Hausa people speak.

Unam ikot

It's better to learn in mother tongue.

For how long are we going to be tied to the apron string of the past Colonia master

No private school engages this policy. In fact I'm just hearing this for d first time.
Indeed we learn everyday.

The language of learning is d least of our problems in d educational sector.

Welcome development

NCE, no mind them oooo. Mother tongue or nothing.

How can someone taught in a primitive language like Ijaw compete? Insisting on educating children in such a language with minimal vocabulary, crude phonetics, and rudimentary grammar is an act of intellectual negligence. Such languages, lacking the capacity for abstract thought and scientific discourse, constrain cognitive development and isolate their speakers from global progress. A society that clings to linguistic relics ill-suited for modern education does not preserve culture, it ensures stagnation, condemning future generations to irrelevance in an increasingly interconnected world. That’s what has happened to speakers of welsh in UK.

datola:
It's better to learn in mother tongue.

For how long are we going to be tied to the apron string of the past Colonia master

Translate this in your yoruba language:

"Oscillatory motion is a type of periodic motion"

Whether you are taught in mother tongue or English, person wey no sabi book no sabi book. They should be teaching English and French from primary school.

Pelicanbrief:
This policy is because yorubas can't speak proper English

Shey Na you bia dey speak proper English right

Na who don chop dey speak language 🤔



Give them food first



Me cyaan bother

Use of Mother’s tongue cannot work. If a child in Katsina is taught in Hausa language and his counterpart in Imo is taught in Igbo, when they meet in a national competition, what language should be used?

Let’s stick to our English as official language and our dialects can be used at home and selected days in schools.

Sheuns:
Use of Mother’s tongue cannot work. If a child in Katsina is taught in Hausa language and his counterpart in IMO is taught in Igbo, when they meet in a national competition, what language should be used?

😀

...

wunmi590:


Which stupid reversal is this?

They should stick to the English, when they get home their parent will teach them their mother tongue...

I was just informing my wife last week that should should inform my kids teacher not to allow my kids speak yoruba, and not to also allow the other kids speak it in class..

When they get home, they should speak it, English should be a solid foundation when they are growing up, so that it won't be difficult for them when they have finally grown up

Did you actually read the post?

zzzzzzzz!