In a spectacular volte face, the Nigerian Government has rescinded its earlier decision to make indigenous languages mandatory as the medium of instruction in schools, saying the policy has led to a sharp decline in the performance by students in Public Examinations.
It will be recalled that in 2012, a National Language Policy (NLP) was approved by the Nigeria government, which mandates that from Early Child Care Education to Primary six, the language of instruction will be in the mother tongue or language of the immediate community.
The aim of the policy, according to the Federal government was to promote indigenous languages, recognize their equal status, and improve early childhood learning outcomes, while English remains the official language used in later education and formal settings.
But speaking at the British Council organised 2025 Language in Education International Conference in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the policy was being reversed because Nigerian children had been performing abysmally in public exams as a result of being taught in the mother tongue.
According to the Minister, the decision to cancel the policy followed extensive data analysis and evidence showing that the use of mother tongue as the main medium of instruction had negatively affected learning outcomes in several parts of the country.
“We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an oversubscribed manner.
“This is about evidence based governance. English now stands as the medium of instructions from the preprimary, primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and to the tertiary education level.”
“Using mother tongue language in Nigeria for the past 15 years has literally destroyed education in certain regions. We have to talk about evidence, not emotions,” he said.
According to him, data gathered from schools across the country revealed that students taught primarily in indigenous languages recorded higher failure rates in national examinations and struggled with basic English comprehension.
“The national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education,” he declared.
The minister urged stakeholders with differing views to present verifiable data to support their positions, adding that the government remained open to evidence-based dialogue that would strengthen the education sector.
He commended the British Council for its continued partnership with Nigeria in advancing education reforms and promoting inclusive language and learning policies.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed, spoke on other areas of focus by the government to address the teaching and learning crisis at the foundational level of education.
Ahmad said a new training package had been designed for teachers that would help literacy and numeracy learning.
”Now we are designing a training package for the teachers that focuses on the learning of literacy and numeracy.
“This is specifically training teachers that teach across the foundation level from pre-primary to primary one to three.
“We are training them how best to teach literacy, how best to teach numeracy, and of course, the approach,” she said.
Also, the Country Director, British Council Nigeria, Donna Mcgowan, pledged the council’s continued support and expertise to Nigeria’s education policies aimed at repositioning the education sector.
”We’re committed to working hand-in-hand with the ministry. We work across all areas of education in terms of supporting teacher professional development, school leadership and language proficiency,” Mcgowan said.
