Centre for Yoruba Language Engineering (CEYOLENG) has condemned the Federal Government’s recent language policy, which adopted the use of the English language as a sole medium of instruction in Nigerian schools.
In a statement signed by the Centre and obtained on social media, the Centre stated, “Without a doubt, the new policy by the current Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Túnjí Alausa, that adopts the use of English language alone as a medium of instruction in schools in Nigeria can produce a lot of adverse effects culturally, psychologically and socially as is evident from the the following somewhat interconnected realities (among others):”
The Centre enumerated the implications of the policy to include: “Rekindling one’s memory of the colonial era of rejection of mother language in education, Diminishing children’s affection for using their mother language in education, Encouraging children’s preference for English language as a medium of communication, and Promoting language shift from indigenous language to English.”
Other implications include; “Enshrining English dominance in education, pushing mother language aside, Engendering contempt of children for their own mother languages, Discouraging children from learning or studying their indigenous languages, Discouraging revitalization of indigenous language through education and new technologies, Discouraging the use of indigenous languages in competitive areas such as science, technology, engineering, medicine, law, etc., Limiting children’s domains of language use, Causing loss of fluency in the indigenous language, and Denyiny pupils in their formative years the opportunity to start acquiring and stockpiling indigenous technical terms that could prepare them for future innovative contributions in the various aspects of machine-learning, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, speech tools, parallel translation, and other web technology solutions in the digital world, by using their languages as a viable and effective tool.”
“Encouraging parents or teachers to prioritize English language for their children’s or students’ success in education, Encouraging the practice of speaking English alone to children or students, Leading children to abandon the languages of their ancestors and show preference for English (an imported language), Enabling children to form the habit of being foreign to themselves, and It goes without saying that all the above realities can ultimately lead to indigenous language endangerment, loss, or extinction,” it concluded.
