The Federal Government has cancelled the national policy that made indigenous languages the medium of instruction in Nigerian schools. Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Wednesday at the 2025 Language in Education International Conference organised by the British Council in Abuja.
The now-scrapped 2022 National Language Policy required the use of mother tongue or community language from early childhood education to primary six, with English reserved for higher levels. Alausa said evidence showed that pupils taught primarily in indigenous languages performed poorly in public examinations such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB.
The minister explained that data gathered nationwide indicated higher failure rates and weak English comprehension among students taught in local languages. He said the new directive makes English the language of instruction from pre-primary to tertiary levels, stressing that the decision was based on evidence rather than sentiment.
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Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, said government is introducing a new training package to improve literacy and numeracy teaching in early education. The British Council’s Country Director, Donna McGowan, pledged continued support for Nigeria’s education reforms and teacher development initiatives.
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