Yoruba Centre throws weight behind FG’s new mother tongue education policy

The International Centre for Yoruba Arts and Culture otherwise known as Yoruba World Centre has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government on its new Mother Language education policy.

The Centre announced its support for the policy in a letter to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu on Thursday in Abuja.

In the letter signed by the Coordinator of the Center, Mr Alao Adedayo, the YWC said it upheld the scaling through of the proposal as one big achievement that would be recorded for the tenure of the current Minister.

He pleaded that all Nigerians, home and abroad, come together to see to the workability of the policy.

On Wednesday, the Federal Executive Council, at its meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja approved a new Language Policy which now makes the mother tongue a compulsory medium of instruction from Primary classes 1 to 6.

The Yoruba World Centre, in its first reaction to the policy, maintained that the time has come for Nigerians to celebrate because Nigeria now follows the ways of many developed nations.

“Using mother tongue for instructions at the early stage of the children has helped many nations of the world to develop and it is one of the obstacles facing our education sector in Nigeria as pupils taught with foreign languages grow to fall in love with foreign cultures and ideas, abandoning anything indigenous, including the love for their own community and country.

“Here at the Yoruba World Centre, we are very sure the Federal Government and Nigerians shall reap bountifully from this new policy.

“This is why we are supporting the policy with all our resources by bringing all stakeholders together to ensure we all give a helping hand that will facilitate an all-round success for the implementation of the policy.” the statement said.