[lg policy] Emir of Kano calls for use of local language to teach in schools

[Harold Schiffman]

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Emir of Kano calls for use of local language to teach in schools

Sanusi, who gave the advice at a two-day Northern Nigeria Traditional
Leaders Conference on Out-of-School Children, in Kaduna, said that the use
of only English language in teaching has contributed to low educational
development in the country.
By *The Eagle Online* <https://theeagleonline.com.ng/author/theeagle/> On *Oct
10, 2018*
*4* 4
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The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Wednesday, advised the Federal
Government to institute a policy that allows the use of local languages to
teach in Nigerian schools.
Sanusi, who gave the advice at a two-day Northern Nigeria Traditional
Leaders Conference on Out-of-School Children, in Kaduna, said that the use
of only English language in teaching has contributed to low educational
development in the country.
The conference was organised by Federal Ministry of Education, Universal
Basic Education Commission, National Commission for Mass Education and
Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development in collaboration with UNICEF.
According to him, the national policy on education that allows only English
language as a means of communication in classrooms is defective and
responsible for low assimilation among students.
He said: “English as a language yes, but English as the only medium of
teaching and learning is wrong and counterproductive.
“You don’t need English language to be a doctor, you don’t need it to be
engineer or anything one wants to be.”
He stressed that teaching with mother tongue would go a long way in
improving the rate of assimilation and make teaching and learning
interesting and productive.
Sanusi also pointed out the lack of commitment to improving the quality of
education by all levels of governments had manifested over the years in the
paltry budgetary allocation made to education by all levels of government.
He said that only seven per cent of the 2018 federal budget was allocated
to education against the recommended 26 per cent.
He said: “This is a clear indication that education was the least of the
Nigeria’s priority. This is quite disturbing.
“Our political leaders must be held accountable if they fail to meet up
with their responsibility of providing education, quality health services
and other development aspiration of the people.
“If a sitting governor cannot ensure that his people are educated, healthy
and empowered to live a productive life then he has no business being in
governance.”
Earlier, 16-year-old Tabitha Emmanuel, from Gwoza Local Government Area of
Borno, while sharing her experience stressed that access to quality
education for all should be of concern to everyone.
Emmanuel said that Nigerian societies cannot thrive when millions of
children have no opportunity to access education that can make them
productive members of their communities.
She said: “I recalled that sometime ago, Boko Haram sent a letter to my
community directing that no girl should be sent to school.
“They later came and burnt my school and destroyed my village, killed many
people, took women and abducted more than 200 girls into captivity.
“I was forced to stay at home for six months. My future became bleak and
life became difficult.
“But as peace returned to the troubled North East, I was able to complete
my primary and secondary school and I am looking forward to a brighter
future.”
She pointed out that there are still huge number of girls and children who
do not have access to quality education, and appealed to community leaders
to recognised that children are important machinery in shaping a country’s
future for greatness.
According to her, there must be collective effort to ensure that schools
are safe, gender based and other barriers to girl child education are
addressed.
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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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