The importance of mother tongue education

The new plan to reverse the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction from primary one to six should be further interrogated. The Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Ahmad, had at the Extraordinary National Council on Education Meeting in Abuja recently urged the council to restrict the use of mother tongue to Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) and primary one. The NCE had previously approved the use of the mother tongue of the immediate environment as the medium of instruction in the first three years of primary education. The policy was aimed at preserving Nigerian languages and enhancing foundational learning of the pupils. The Federal Executive Council approved its implementation on November 30, 2022. 

To justify the scrapping of the mother tongue policy, the minister said its implementation had been hampered by inconsistencies in policy execution in urban areas and some parts of the country, where English is deployed as the only language of communication from the start, in contradiction of the policy. The minister also said: “With over 500 languages in Nigeria, the implementation of the policy 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.” 

Considering the benefits of teaching children in the mother tongue or local languages, we urge the government to allow the mother tongue policy to remain. If there are implementation bottlenecks, they should be addressed. Jettisoning the mother tongue policy will harm ECCDE. We also believe that reversing the mother tongue policy at this point in time is ill-advised, unnecessary and unacceptable. Moreover, administrative reasons alone are not enough to scrap the mother tongue policy. The predominance use of the English language as the language of education and communication in Nigeria can be traced to the early education language policy of the colonial masters and other governments after them.

Making use of the mother tongue as the language of education in primary schools is doable. What it requires is creativity and imagination on the part of policy makers and teachers. Since the Nigerian language policy emphasises teaching of pupils in their early years of education in their mother tongue, teaching Nigeria’s major languages would be easier if the ministry of education and stakeholders produce enough textbooks and literatures in the local languages.

The experiment of using the mother tongue, especially Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba to teach children in primary schools has been adjudged successful. The use of these major Nigerian languages in education has led to their development and standardization. The mother tongue policy should stay because at early stage, children have the ability to speak many languages at a time. Scrapping mother tongue education on account of implementation fatigue should not be contemplated.

Mother tongue, according to linguists, is a child’s first language or native language. It is often the language that the child has used from birth. Research indicates that having a strong mother tongue foundation in education leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum. Children learn better when taught in their mother tongue. Mother tongue creates a more positive attitude towards schooling.

It is very important that children maintain their first language when they begin schooling in a different language outside their culture, especially with the rising migration of Nigerians to other countries. Children with a strong foundation in their first language tend to do well in school. At the same time, mother tongue education also boosts their confidence. Apart from being the language of instruction, mother tongue defines a child’s personal and cultural identity. Teaching the children in their mother tongue also fosters other skills like critical thinking and literacy skills. 

It is laudable that UNESCO has been in the forefront of promoting mother tongue education due to its numerous advantages. It has been leading the way and advocating for multilingual education based on the mother tongue from the earliest years of schooling. It has been found out that education in the mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion and quality learning. It also improves learning outcomes and academic performance of learners.

Undoubtedly, using the nation’s indigenous languages in education will prevent their going extinct as being predicted by some language experts. We decry the looming death of some of our local languages on account of neglect and long years of disuse. The best way to ensure the existence of our indigenous language is to make them the language of education and communication. Therefore, let the mother tongue policy be.