Dshocker:
Am from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), my problem now is; who will teach me Swahili language in school¿

Any language they teach you with will still not save you from your dumbness since you cannot read simple article in the English you are already taught in.

Read the article again and lets see whether you have any sense of comprehension.

southsouthking:
What's the benefit of this?

So that you have identity and partially contribute to lessen your colomentality.

I did my home language Sepedi from primary until high school, but that didn't stop me from learning English too and I can speak and write it perfectly.

miketayo:


my point is we cant see our native languages in schools because we don't have a general language asides English

Yureyes:


Lol. What happens if I’m not Yoruba and we happen to live in Ile Ife and I have no desire for my child to learn Yoruba. Will the school teach my child in his own mother tongue too? The dominant language spoken in the community doesn’t make it my mother tongue

If you have no desire for your children to learn Yoruba and you live in a Yoruba place, then you have two options:

1) Move to a place where you want your children to learn the local language there.

2) Send your kids from age 6 to boarding school located in a place you want your children to learn the local language.

3) Send your children abroad to study; I guess, most likely to a country where they will speak fone and learn fone.

Which do you prefer?

Alvin007:



Adamu explained that the mother tongue to be used in each
school will be the dominant language spoken by the community where it is located.

Abi o.

Some people were taught in English but still struggle to read in English, and yet are saying not being taught in English will be the problem.

immortalcrown:
Instructional material and qualified teachers were never the problem. I don't know what the man means in his reference to these two factors.

Good. The problem is, how will the government ensure a child from tribe A living in tribe B gets proper lesson on tribe A language? For example, how a Yoruba kid in the North will be able to learn Yoruba language properly in the North.


ADDED:
For those claiming I didn't read the post, stop acting smart when you are highly ignorant. Because I pointed out the bigger problem, you claim I didn't see the smaller problem expressed in the post. Is this how your brain works? I read the post. I then pointed out where the major issue lies. As a matter of fact, a person's mother tongue is the language of the person's ancestors, not the language of a foreign region where the person was born and raised. The mother tongue of a Yoruba person born and raised in the North is Yoruba language, not Hausa language. The keyword in the meaning of "mother tongue" is "native". Is a child born by a Yoruba couple in the North a native of Hausa? Stop fooling yourselves.

You are the one who doesn't understand my comment. The post talks about the dominant language in the children's region of residence. I commented about the children's ancestral language, which is the biggest challenge in this regard. If you don't lack common sense, you would have known that what the government tackles here is not the actual problem. This is why the government always goes a million miles in misleading you before you realize you are misled. Have you ever seen a child of tribe A raised in tribe B and the child knows tribe A language more than he or she knows tribe B language? Even if you have seen a child like that, the case is very rare, it is less than 5%. Most of the tribe A children raised in tribe B even know tribe B language more than they know the tribe A language.

Almost every child grows to naturally understand the dominant language of his or her region of residence. Every Igbo kid raised in the North is even better in Hausa language than in Igbo language. Every Yoruba kid raised in the North is good in Hausa language, or even better in Hausa language than in Yoruba language. So, has the mother tongue of a place of residence ever been a serious problem for any kid? The serious challenge kids have is being fluent in the dominant language in their place of residence while knowing just little or nothing about the dominant language of their ancestral (native) tribe. The bigger problem I pointed is absolutely in line with the smaller problem expressed in this post. So, why are people replying me as if my comment is off-point or illogical? Tụfịakwa!

Thrash. Much ado about nothing.

Peterobi90:
Dumb policy honestly..... has he been to majority of public primary schools, do they look like English is even being practised there, its sad the little encouragement is about to be wiped off with a pronounced law..

How would the children now be enlightened to read for exposure and broad knowledge in a country with different languages of very small groups to compete with their peers in private schools and international?

Would the secondary education now be an English language class for students in order not to be caught up with language barriers in the future?

Well... in a few years time, the retrogressed education would be obvious and the result would be evident.

Mother tongue is a family affair, community language is not mother tongue... the policy is baseless..

People will always find excuse to continue engaging in their colomentality.

The problem with education in Nigeria is funds and professionalism.

Whether language of instruction is in English, Bini, Gwari or Japanese, those problems in public schools will still exists.

In countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland etc. the language of instruction for their children in primary and SECONDARY schools are their local mother tongue.

Secondly, they use their local language to teach the kids English.

Thirdly, as the children reach equivalent of Primary 4 to 6, they can further add another foreign language to learn like German, French or Spanish.

So these primary school kids are learning 3 fcking languages with their local language used as teaching instructions. Yet, contrary to what colomentality mugus like you will claim, it does not confuse them.

Adults of these countries taught in such manner speak better English than you, are better educated than you, more enlightened than you, more employable than you and the countries' education has not "retrogressed".

The thing they have achieved is not to feel like second class humans to no one and they are employable at home and in foreign countries where they speak that countries language reasonable well/fluently.

You go continue your colomentality where your children cannot speak their mother tongue and you have also given them English names because this makes you feel "cool" and "advanced".

blaise26abj:


Nothing bad in allowing your child to learn the predominant language of your host community . Most Igbo kids that grew up in the south west can speak Yoruba fluently .
It is actually a great move if well implemented . In terms of integration of the country and ability of students to understand better what they are taught .
I see it as a baby step towards removal of state of origin and having state of residence .

Thank you.

....the plan to take us backwards to the stone age is real.......

Mother what......wen hunger, vex dey load daily
Japa, sapa...one's new dream slogans....

Oyinbo dey learn for oppression.....
Infact, Dem dey confess steady say na black man institute black slavery, not them

Nwakannaya1:
When you instruct them with the mother tongue which isn't bad in itself, I hope they would be able to communicate with others from other geolocations in their own mother's tongue.

We already have Nigerian languages in schools but making them compulsory languages of instruction has the capacity of limiting the pupils in less developed country like ours.

Since he removed sex education from curriculum, I no longer take him serious. Self-confessed failure of a minister.

There are actually two options:

1) Make local languages the compulsory languages of instruction.

2) Make it compulsory that each kid (raised in Nigeria) must pass a primary school exam in a local Nigerian language to progress or gain entry into any secondary school in Nigeria.

The second one might even be a better policy in my view. That would provide some sense of equity for those not living in their native land but simultaneously force useless parents to speak their mother tongue to their kids; otherwise they would be funding private lessons for 1 or 2 years, after primary school, for their kid(s) to learn a local language before being able to progress to secondary school.

By force, by force, we go remove that colomentality.

Look at P-Square and go check their children's names. Serious colomentality.

Samantha123:
Come on, you can do your native languages and English, what's wrong with that?

English is also our general language, but we also do our native languages in schools and everything is working out just fine.

I don't get it, do you want your native languages to go on extinction

so you mean if my child in SW is taught in Yoruba from Primary 1-3 and i get transferred to the north where they teach in Hausa, does it mean my child after learning in Yoruba from birth will start afresh from primary 1 in Hausa? because clearly, the child doesn't understand Hausa
how does that make sense?

Cantonese:
Imagine teaching English in your mother tongue.

Imagine teaching English in some mother tongues, wey I no go mention their names. What about mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics?

Imagine teaching law in the mother language.

Some languages must not dare, otherwise everywhere go scatter!

If you are not taught English, imagine how it would be at the markets, or in public places. Imagine how you go take toast woman for road. As you are speaking your own, she dey speak her own with hand sign to respond.

When you get sense, you will get sense to know biology, chemistry, physics, law, geophysics and Python are not taught in primary schools.

Samantha123:
That's easy, here in SA, most multiracial schools or schools that have children from different cultures ensure that they have more than one home language as a subject.. they'd have at least three or four home languages as subjects and the child will decide which language to choose.

Or the parents could take the child to a school that has their home language as a subject, but at the same time I still don't see anything wrong with the child learning another language from his or her country.

In that way, the child will be able to communicate with the people from the area that he or she lives properly.

You are mistaken, Poplap.

This policy is not about teaching local languages in schools. It is about using local languages as the tool of instructions in primary schools.

They already and will continue teaching foreign languages, but English will not be the tool on instructions, the area's local language will be.

yemmit90:
To me, this is not a good policy. A kid will perfectly understand his/her mother tongue language as long as the parent spoke it at home.

English is our official language, failure to introduce it early in the life of young kids will only make them lag behind in future. How do you expect such children to compete with other kids in national and international competitions.

This is a backward educational policy, and I am sure it is because of the North.

Continue talking nonsense.

Do you "perfectly" speak your mother tongue?

Scandinavian people are taught in school, their whole lives, with their mother tongue from early life, they are far better than you in speaking English and have a better future than you have. You can't compete with them.

Stupid policy.

What is the dominant mother tongue in the community?

Akoko Edo LGA in Edo state, just one local government, has 7 languages. Do the same for communities all over Nigeria and you are running into over 150 languages and dialects.

Then several years later, these pupils will not be able to understand a global language like English, leading to poor competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The Chinese are paying huge sums to learn English and here is Nigeria wanting to destroy a good advantage by making a nonsense policy that is not backed by any research.

People can learn their mother tongue at home. Get them started with global languages the moment they start formal education. In addition, make French compulsory as well given that we are enveloped by French speaking countries.

All this faux patriotism will not help anyone. Well, what kind of educational policies do you expect with an Adamu Adamu as Minister?

Sagamite:


Continue talking nonsense.

Do you "perfectly" speak your mother tongue?

Scandinavian people are taught in school, their whole lives, with their mother tongue from early life, they are far better than you in speaking English and have a better future than you have. You can't compete with them.

How many languages are in Scandinavia?

You guys talk rubbish without considering the peculiarities of your country. Edo state alone has close to 20 languages. If you were typing your missives in your mother tongue, would I be able to have a discussion with you?

fkj950ax:


How many textbooks are in Igbo Yoruba and Hausa.
How many novels or story books are in these languages?
That's instructional material being the problem.

In terms of teacher qualification, how many teachers can actually read and write in these languages to the point we trust them to grade students in these same languages?

Resistance to change and continued excuse for colomentality.

It is not rocket science and will not take eternity to produce/translate books to local languages for primary schools.

Reading and writing in a local language for primary school students would not be quantum physics effort.

Teachers will have to now speak local languages AND English to be employed. Good! All those whose parents refused to teach them any local language cannot be teachers. Find another profession.

Oh! I see.. well, good luck..

Sagamite:


You are mistaken, Poplap.

This policy is not about teaching local languages in schools. It is about using local languages as the tool of instructions in primary schools.

They already and will continue teaching foreign languages, but English will not be the tool on instructions, the area's local language will be.

blaise26abj:


Nothing bad in allowing your child to learn the predominant language of your host community . Most Igbo kids that grew up in the south west can speak Yoruba fluently .
It is actually a great move if well implemented . In terms of integration of the country and ability of students to understand better what they are taught .
I see it as a baby step towards removal of state of origin and having state of residence .

Your last line is a lie.

I was born in a South West town and it is written in my birth certificate but I will never be accepted there no matter how fluent I am in Yoruba. That's Nigeria.

Also, Yoruba language didn't need to be compulsory before I became fluent in it.

The problem with Nigeria is the reliance on orders and compulsions for their policies. An Igbo family in Bariga will find that their children can speak Yoruba and Pidgin without needing any formal instruction.

einsteine:


How many languages are in Scandinavia?

You guys talk rubbish without considering the peculiarities of your country. Edo state alone has close to 20 languages. If you were typing your missives in your mother tongue, would I be able to have a discussion with you?

What a fooolish statement!

What is the relevance of how many languages are in Scandinavia?

What "discussions" will primary school students be having beyond their primary school friends?

They would be going for state conferences for discussions?

In your thick head you think because they say the language of instruction will be in a local language that means English will not be taught at primary schools?

colestephan86:

What of those parents that always want to speak qweens English to their children at home

God punish them!!!

Sagamite:


There are actually two options:

1) Make local languages the compulsory languages of instruction.

2) Make it compulsory that each kid (raised in Nigeria) must pass a primary school exam in a local Nigerian language to progress or gain entry into any secondary school in Nigeria.

The second one might even be a better policy in my view. That would provide some sense of equity for those not living in their native land but simultaneously force useless parents to speak their mother tongue to their kids; otherwise they would be funding private lessons for 1 or 2 years, after primary school, for their kid(s) to learn a local language before being able to progress to secondary school.

By force, by force, we go remove that colomentality.

Look at P-Square and go check their children's names. Serious colomentality.

The flaw here is that you think fluency in a language can only be achieved by compulsion when it is clear that children assimilate languages without even trying. You don't need to make Yoruba compulsory for a child growing up in Akure to understand it. There is also no indication whatsoever that teaching a child in Yoruba would make the child get better basic education.

Also, Nigeria is a multilingual country, something which is lost on many people. In my mother's local government, there are over 7 languages. A common language has to be the language of instruction to ensure uniformity. Nigeria is not Sweden with one language that has years of linguistic development behind it.

The policy is hinged on the usual faux patriotism. English is a global language and the earlier Nigerians start learning it the better. China, with its technological might, values ESL (English as a second language) teachers as much as engineers.

omolasho:
Absolutely unnecessary and it only complicate learning for the kids.

The Scandinavian kids taught like that did not find it complicated.

I am sure it can be complicated for Baboon kids sha.

Sagamite:


What a fooolish statement!

What is the relevance of how many languages are in Scandinavia?

What "discussions" will primary school students be having beyond their primary school friends?

They would be going for state conferences for discussions?

In your thick head you think because they say the language of instruction will be in a local language that means English will not be taught at primary schools?

You have a well known propensity for being stupid but i will oblige you. So you think if English is the language of instruction means that your "mother tongue" will not be taught in primary schools? You are having this discussion in English, why not resort to your mother tongue?

Starting children in local languages would affect them later in academic life. We see a lot of Nigerian politicians engaging in code switching and other forms of poor communication when speaking and one big reason for this is their early training in their mother tongue.

The world is global now and this faux patriotism or "Proud Nigerian" nonsense is not going to help you. One would have expected you to have a Yoruba username given that you are so overjoyed with your "mother tongue".

Bobbiee:
What about areas with ethnic heterogeneous populations. Like some major cities, i.e., Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt?

Lagos - Majorly Yoruba
Abuja - Majorly Gwari or Hausa
Port Harcourt - Majorly Ijaw or Ikwerre

That should not stop some school proprietors setting up primary schools with focus on other languages, or state governments organising inserting some schools with focus on other languages where there is a high concentration of people that speak that local area.

einsteine:


You have a well known propensity for being stupid but i will oblige you. So you think if English is the language of instruction means that your "mother tongue" will not be taught in primary schools? You are having this discussion in English, why not resort to your mother tongue?

Starting children in local languages would affect them later in academic life. We see a lot of Nigerian politicians engaging in code switching and other forms of poor communication when speaking and one big reason for this is their early training in their mother tongue.

The world is global now and this faux patriotism or "Proud Nigerian" nonsense is not going to help you. One would have expected you to have a Yoruba username given that you are so overjoyed with your "mother tongue".

You are a moooronic cretiin!

What stuupid questions are these?

Are these the answers to the questions you were asked?

I will ask your dumbass again:

What is the relevance of how many languages are in Scandinavia?

What "discussions" will primary school students be having beyond their primary school friends?

They would be going for state conferences for discussions?

In your thick head you think because they say the language of instruction will be in a local language that means English will not be taught at primary schools?

I will comeback to the rest of your stupidity when you answer. Your roasting just began, Suya!

Ohh! I now get it. Someone just gave me clarity that the policy is about using the native languages as a tool of instruction in schools rather than teaching them as subjects.

Wow! Interesting..

Meaning that the kids are going to learn their mathematics, biology, other subjects in your native languages.

The best thing to do if you get transferred to another part of the country is to transfer your child to a boarding school in the area, or leave him or her with a family member, you'll then come and fetch him or her after he or she completes primary 3.

miketayo:


so you mean if my child in SW is taught in Yoruba from Primary 1-3 and i get transferred to the north where they teach in Hausa, does it mean my child after learning in Yoruba from birth will start afresh from primary 1 in Hausa? because clearly, the child doesn't understand Hausa
how does that make sense?

Most schools in rural areas have always taught mother tongue,just that it’s legalized now.
Besides it makes it easier for kids to understand what they are being taught.

cocolacec:

All the countries he mentioned speak in the mother tongue or the language of their host community.
I have been to Germany before even Amercan sitcoms are dubbed in German on TV not subtitled.
Only enslaved people cherish the language of a coloniser.

"It will affect their education and progress".

"You have to speak English to be able to progress".

Awon asinwin!

That is the major economy in Europe.

If true, might be the best news I've read yet on NL this year....If true, might be the best news I've read yet on NL this year.......

Judolisco:
Dis policy is already in place in early childhood education... But I don't think it's working.... Even parents don't speak their language to kids anymore

Useless parents!

seunayantokun:

Conquered minds they are. When we start overall implementation of that policy, they'll be free.

Well said!