NUT Backs FG On Proposed Compulsory Mother Tongue For Basic Education

Nigeria Union of Teachers NUT has expressed its strong backing for Federal Government on its proposed policy to make the usage of mother tongue language compulsory for pupils in basic education from class one to six in the country

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu had last 30th of November, announced the decision of the Federal Executive Council to introduce the usage of the mother tongue language as medium of instruction for pupils in first six years of basic education as approved by the National Council on Education meeting

The added that government would need more time to develop instructional materials and train qualified teachers for the smooth Implementation of the policy

Secretary of the Ogun State wing of NUT, Comrade Samson Oyelere in an interview with Edu-biznews in Abeokuta,described the policy as welcome development, saying the policy will enable pupils to learn fast through their mother tongue language medium of instruction, by building on what they know to what they don't know 

According to the union , the usage of mother tongue is a product of debate , rigorous discussion within the National Council on Education of which 36 States Commissioner for  Education are members, that pronouncement would not have come without the approval of NCE ,so NUT is totally in support, because our belief is that understanding anything comes from what you know first, because education is from simple to complex 

Oyelere recalled that the how the usage of mother tongue language policy worked in the past for the educational system at the basic level, blaming the failure of the policy on policy summersault by successive previous governments 

The union made reference to many countries who embrace mother tongue as medium of instruction for their basic educational system who are now more  advanced than others not using it 

NUT however stressed the need for more time to involve other stakeholders for implementation of the policy which  includes teachers who should be properly trained in that direction as well as authors and publishers on the production of textbooks in mother tongue languages

The said it would cost more for the policy to be properly implemented in the country but gains or benefits for development of education far outweigh the cost of its implementation