Nigeria has announced a policy to encourage the teaching in local languages to primary school students rather than English.
Education Minister Adamu Adamu on November 30, informed journalists on Wednesday that the National Language Policy, a new framework, has been given the go-ahead for execution.
The first six years of primary school education under the new policy will be taught in the mother tongue.
According to Africanews, English is Nigeria’s official language and all learning institutions use it as the common language of teaching and learning.
However, the education minister says “pupils learn much better” when they are taught in their own mother tongue.
The education minister acknowledged that implementing the new policy would be challenging because it would “require a lot of work to develop materials to teach and get the teachers”.
Another challenge is the number of languages spoken in Nigeria – more than 600.
It’s not immediately clear when the government will start implementing the new system.