The Federal Government has called on stakeholders in the National Council on Education (NCE) to approve the reversal of the policy mandating the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction from Primary One to Six.
Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, made the appeal on Thursday during the 2025 Extraordinary NCE Meeting in Abuja.
She also urged the council to review the national education policy to limit the use of mother tongue to Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) and Primary One.
The NCE had previously endorsed the use of indigenous languages for instruction in the first three years of primary education, a move aimed at preserving local languages and strengthening foundational learning.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved this policy in November 2022.
However, Professor Ahmad highlighted several obstacles to its implementation, particularly in urban areas and multilingual communities.
“Inconsistencies in policy execution mean that in many schools, English is used from the start, contradicting the policy,” she said.
“With over 500 languages in Nigeria, selecting a dominant language in diverse communities is challenging. Additionally, there is a shortage of instructional materials and textbooks in many indigenous languages.”
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, also addressed the meeting, emphasizing the need to integrate secondary education into basic education, creating a 12-year uninterrupted system.
“By extending basic education to 12 years, students will benefit from continuous learning up to age 16,” he said.
“This will help reduce dropout rates by removing financial and systemic barriers that prevent many students from completing secondary education.”
Dr. Alausa further advocated for converting Federal Science and Technical Colleges (FSTCs) into Federal Technical Colleges (FTCs), aligning education with the demands of a technology-driven economy.
He emphasized that restructuring technical and vocational education (TVET) would help combat youth unemployment by equipping young Nigerians with practical skills.
He also reinforced the government’s push to set 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions, arguing that standardizing entry requirements would improve educational quality.
The meeting brought together education commissioners from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, alongside heads of agencies, international organizations, and the Deputy Governor of Kano State.
