About two years ago I toyed with the idea of sending my kids to secondary school in Nigeria from abroad. My main motivation was so that they may have that feel of Nigeria, learn more about our culture and traditions and learn the mother tongue which in this case is Yoruba.
Unfortunately when I went to Nigeria and visited some secondary schools in Ibadan where I grew up I was greatly disappointed. These schools modelled themselves on English public schools to the extent that Yoruba or any other Nigerian languages for that matter were not on the curriculum. The children were not allowed to speak Yoruba at all and they couldn't even speak English properly anyway.
I don't know if it's just the schools I visited but this formed my opinion about Nigerian secondary schools currently.They are just not the same as when I was growing up there and if we are not careful the mother tongues will die out. When I was in secondary school the language of instruction was English but we had Yoruba on the curriculum and read books by D.O.Fagunwa, Amos Tutuola among others and I must say this has not harmed my grasp of the English language at all.
I know many Nigerian parents abroad who will give their eye teeth for their children to be able to speak and understand their mother tongue. My wife is one since she is of Nigerian Yoruba parentage but cannot speak or understand Yoruba. Hence, I speak English at home and I was hoping that I'd find a way of enabling my children to learn the language in Nigeria with native speakers.
So please if anyone knows of any good schools in the Lagos or Ibadan area that have Yoruba on their curriculum and are not parodies of English public schools could they please advise.

Thanks

Afrokarma

Dont let the diasporians hear you o -

afrokarma what kind of biased ignorant statement are you making, your child will learn how to speak yoruba by interacting with other yoruba kids at school, not from what the teachers say in class, or do you want our teachers to speak in yoruba now

Dear joxiri, you may think my opinion is biased and ignorant but you've just reinforced my point exactly. As you said my kids will learn to speak Yoruba by interacting and speaking Yoruba to other kids in the school,but if you read my posting this is exactly the problem. These kids in these schools do not speak Yoruba at all as it is forbidden. Also I don't just want my kids to speak "Yoruba" but to be able to read and write it with proper grammar and this can mainly be achieved within a structured curricular teaching. I hope you get my point and don't just dismiss my posting as the rantings of a biased and ignorant individual. And I expect the teachers to speak and teach in Yoruba during Yoruba lessons as a French teacher in America would teach in French during French lessons.
Also, from my interactions with people close to me in Nigeria, not many under the age of 25 or even 30 years can read or write Yoruba even though they claim to speak "yoruba" This is in quotes because what they speak is not really yoruba as most sentences are interspersed with pidgin and faux American street slangs that even the educated or cultured American would never use.
So please see where I'm coming from.

aforkarma, kids wll never learn yoruba to read and write through a curriculum, sorry but they will never take an interest to it, speaking a language and writing it are 2 completely diffferent ball games
and i think you should be content with the possibility that they can speak it, at school no one got an A in yoruba language, even they were of yoruba culture.
if they can understand the language and the culture i think thats ok

i grew up in england and learnt ibo at home - so if ur that desperate for ur kids to learn the language speak it at home.

learning culture is good and everything - but again this can be taught in the home.

there's a big difference b/w speaking and writing.your children will learn yoruba better if you speak it to them at home.they can retain that faster than who is taught in school,b/c most often children study to pass and not to know.

As good as your observation may sound, I suggest that it may not be totally true. And I will also like you to consider some other sodes of the whole situation as you answer my questions. #1. What type of school did you take your child to in Ibadan? #2. What calibre of people in terms of social and financial status take their wards to that same school and #3. Where is the school located in Ibadan?

Reasons for my Questions:
#1. Most public schools would offer at least one Nigerian language since that is included in the Nigerian curriculum except they dont have a teacher at hand but I am sure that if its a school that is under the state or the federal government it will surely offer a nigerian language because it is compulsry to do that. Such type of schools may not really want their students to speak vanacular in the school premises so as to encourage communication in the english language when in the school compound. Most kids in this type of schools are used to speaking their languages at home especially with their parents and to improve in english, the school may be the best place for them to speak it so as to be able to get corrected easily when errors are committed. Hence the reason why most schools of this calibre discourages vanacular speaking. This also goes as a reason for the #3. question, the location of the school may also determine the mentally of the people in the school. For example, if the school is located in a relatively crowded or local area, the school management may not want their children to speak any local language so as to be able to give impression to people in the area that their school teaches well as their students communicates always in English.

#2. Most elite parents nowadays may not think the way you are thinking in terms of encouraging their wards to speak their local languages. This may not be good enough but that is what they want and most private schools in Nigeria today would normally dance to the tune of their clients/customer since school business is big business today in Nigeria. The school would normally consider pleasing majority of the parents who have money so as to give them to an extent what they probably want for their wards.

#3. Before you send your child to any school anywhere especially secondary school, you should first know the subjects they offer and how their time-table is structured. this would give you a very good idea of what to expect in terms of curriculum content and the mentality of the school management which most times reflects their values. However, there are good schools in Nigeria especially in the south west( lagos, oyo, osun ogun, kwara, ondo, etc) that offer the british curriculum or foreign curriculum and have been able to incorporate at least a nigerian language into their scheme and such schools rarely discourage students from speaking their local languages except during lessons. Although the cost of sending a child to some of them may be quite expensive most parents that send their wards there are Nigerians living abroad who wants the nigerian touches on their wards educational development/ training. We also have some elite, rich and above average Nigerians sending their wards to these schools due to the perceived quality of service which may at times be relatively comparable to what you will get abroad and at a cheaper price with touches of nigerian cultures, feelings, languages and concepts.

Ifyou have any further question or clarification on schools in nigeria you may get in touch with me on 08033704411, 07095005439, saintpaulo@rocketmail.com, schoollightconsultant@gmail.com

As good as your observation may sound, I suggest that it may not be totally true. And I will also like you to consider some other sodes of the whole situation as you answer my questions. #1. What type of school did you take your child to in Ibadan? #2. What calibre of people in terms of social and financial status take their wards to that same school and #3. Where is the school located in Ibadan?

Reasons for my Questions:
#1. Most public schools would offer at least one Nigerian language since that is included in the Nigerian curriculum except they dont have a teacher at hand but I am sure that if its a school that is under the state or the federal government it will surely offer a nigerian language because it is compulsry to do that. Such type of schools may not really want their students to speak vanacular in the school premises so as to encourage communication in the english language when in the school compound. Most kids in this type of schools are used to speaking their languages at home especially with their parents and to improve in english, the school may be the best place for them to speak it so as to be able to get corrected easily when errors are committed. Hence the reason why most schools of this calibre discourages vanacular speaking. This also goes as a reason for the #3. question, the location of the school may also determine the mentally of the people in the school. For example, if the school is located in a relatively crowded or local area, the school management may not want their children to speak any local language so as to be able to give impression to people in the area that their school teaches well as their students communicates always in English.

#2. Most elite parents nowadays may not think the way you are thinking in terms of encouraging their wards to speak their local languages. This may not be good enough but that is what they want and most private schools in Nigeria today would normally dance to the tune of their clients/customer since school business is big business today in Nigeria. The school would normally consider pleasing majority of the parents who have money so as to give them to an extent what they probably want for their wards.

#3. Before you send your child to any school anywhere especially secondary school, you should first know the subjects they offer and how their time-table is structured. this would give you a very good idea of what to expect in terms of curriculum content and the mentality of the school management which most times reflects their values. However, there are good schools in Nigeria especially in the south west( lagos, oyo, osun ogun, kwara, ondo, etc) that offer the british curriculum or foreign curriculum and have been able to incorporate at least a nigerian language into their scheme and such schools rarely discourage students from speaking their local languages except during lessons. Although the cost of sending a child to some of them may be quite expensive most parents that send their wards there are Nigerians living abroad who wants the nigerian touches on their wards educational development/ training. We also have some elite, rich and above average Nigerians sending their wards to these schools due to the perceived quality of service which may at times be relatively comparable to what you will get abroad and at a cheaper price with touches of nigerian cultures, feelings, languages and concepts.

If you have any further question or clarification on schools in nigeria you may get in touch with me on 08033704411,  07095005439, saintpaulo@rocketmail.com.

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