FG drops mother tongue policy, redirects schools to english led learning

The Federal Government has again reversed one of its major education policies, this time cancelling the 2022 mother-tongue policy, which required schools to teach pupils from early childhood to Primary Six in their indigenous languages.

The announcement was made by Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa at the British Council’s Language in Education Conference in Abuja, and later confirmed at the 69th National Council on Education meeting held in Akure between November 3 and 7.

Dr. Alausa said the reversal was based on evidence, pointing to WAEC, NECO and JAMB records that, according to him, show higher failure rates in regions that relied heavily on mother-tongue instruction. He also noted that Nigeria does not have enough trained teachers, textbooks or classroom support to teach effectively in hundreds of local languages.

But global bodies like UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank and even research published by the British Council, argue that children learn faster when taught in a language they already speak.

UNESCO notes that 40% of learners worldwide are taught in languages they don’t understand, while World Bank data from 49 countries shows higher reading scores when early schooling begins in the mother tongue.

Supporting this, the famous Fafunwa study also showed that pupils taught in their mother tongue from Primary One to Six performed better than those taught in English.

So what does this mean for Nigerian students? They will now be exposed to English earlier, with one national language guiding exams and mobility across states.

However, children who struggle with English may fall behind more easily, and indigenous languages could lose ground in the classroom unless they are protected through culture, literature and community-based programmes.

The government says it welcomes more research and plans to strengthen teachers’ training. However, many argue that the real issue isn’t the policy itself, but the weak planning and years of underfunding that have led to it. And whichever proves true will decide how this shift affects the Nigerian child.