The controversial policy that required indigenous languages to be taught instead of English in the early years of schooling has been cancelled by the Nigerian government.
According to Education Minister Tunji Alausa, the initiative, which was only launched three years ago, has failed to meet expectations and will be discontinued immediately.
Rather, from preschool through university, English will once again be the primary language of instruction.
Former Education Minister Adamu Adamu, who claimed that children learned better in their mother tongue, started the now-defunct initiative.
Adamu claimed at the time that teaching in “their own mother tongue” helped students understand topics more easily; other UN studies on early childhood education corroborated this claim.
Nigeria’s educational system is beset by severe issues, such as inadequate funding, low teacher compensation, poor instruction, and frequent strikes.
Less than half of pupils complete secondary education, despite the fact that 85% of children attend primary school.
According to the UN, Nigeria has more out-of-school children than any other nation—roughly 10 million.
Dr. Alausa cited subpar academic outcomes from those regions that had embraced mother-tongue instruction while announcing the reversal of the language policy in the capital, Abuja.
He cited data from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO), and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
However, social affairs analyst Habu Dauda disagreed.
“I think it was scrapped prematurely instead of giving it more time. Three years is too little to judge a big shift such as this – the government ought to have added more investment,” he said.
“Does Nigeria have trained teachers to teach in the dozens of indigenous languages in the country? The answer is no. Also, the major exams like WAEC, JAMB are all in English and not in the mother tongue languages.
“I think what’s needed to improve the quality of our schools is bringing in qualified teachers,” he told the BBC.
A mother who has two children in early education schools, Hajara Musa, said she supported the reversal as it would help young children to learn English at an early age.
“English is a global language that is used everywhere, and I feel these kids should start using it from the start of their schooling instead of waiting for when they are older,” she told the BBC.
However, social affairs analyst Habu Dauda disagreed.
“I think it was scrapped prematurely instead of giving it more time. Three years is too little to judge a big shift such as this – the government ought to have added more investment,” he said.
NKONKONSA.com
