Nigeria also has one unclassifiable language, cen tuum, spoken by a few old people among the cham in gombe state. This effort should not be allowed to end up on the shelves or as mere classroom excrcisc. The first section presents the language profile of nigeria and provides a background of the general language situation in the country. This monograph describes the language planning situation in nigeria, one of the most multilingual countries in africa. The fourth discusses language maintenance and language shift in nigeria with respect to the indigenous languages and english, the exoglossic language. The focus on education is, of course, manifest in the cliched emphasis on the role of language in education. In nigeria, language policy on education dates back to the colonial era when in 1927 the british advisory committee on native education in tropical africa recommended that indigenous languages should serve as medium of instruction in the lower years of primary education musa r. National policy on education 6th edition 20 posted on february 22, 2016 february 22, 2016 by adeolu olanipekun download the national policy on education 6th edition 20. This study investigated the current situation of educational policy in nigeria. However, the three major nigerian languages are hausa, igbo, and yoruba which are mainly spoken in the north, east, and west respectively. Policy implementation and its challenges in nigeria effiong, a.
Education in nigeria is more of a public enterprise that has witnessed government complete and dynamic intervention and active participation frn, 1981. The policy requires that the mother tongue or language of the immediate community be the medium of instruction at preprimary and early primary levels, with english emerging as medium of instruction halfway through primary education. The book shows that issues related to language diversity and language policy in education have been one of the major factors responsible for poor student academic performance in. This paper deals with how the language policy can influence and ensure the coexistence of nigeria in achieving selfactualisation, national unity, social, cultural, economic, and educational advancement for collective benefit. National policy on education by shuaib afegbua issuu. The need for the articulation of policy guidelines on standards, procedures, strategies and for the coordination of roles to ensure and sustain the delivery of qualibtive education in nigeria was given impetus by the outcomes of the 1969 national curriculum conference.
The paper suggests that, the language policy can be used to foster a desirable. The christian missionaries who came from great britain introduced formal western education to nigeria, just before the middle of the 19 th century. Nigeria and the roles of english language from historical perspectives. Implementing the national language policy in nigerian. Zarruk, rabiu a discussion of nigerias national language policy looks at the official structure for language instruction, its rationale, and perceived problems and possibilities. Language policy and educational development in africa. The discriminatory fees policy of admission does not significantly relate to the quality of university education in nigeria. Prospect for national unity dare williams omotoyinbo1a abstract various studies on the national policy on education npe have concentrated on the cognitive value of pedagogy and learning of the language aspect but few have viewed its importance on the togetherness of the nation. The nigerian educational system allocations were 45 percent and 22 percent of the requests respectively. Formulation and implementation of educational policies in. Educational language policy in nigeria is a very simple and easy to understand work that will facilitate some learning about issues of language in nigeria and environ.
Is the educational policy faulty or is it the purpose of education in nigeria as education. The national policy of education of 2008 documents the efforts that government at the federal and state levels intend to invest and are investing to ensuring nigeria is a literate country. Formulation and implementation of educational policies in nigeria 1. In pursuance of the goals of providing a sound primary education, the policy provides among others that. This followed the decision of cabinet in 1999 to prioritise the development of a language framework for higher education.
National language policy framework 2003 diversity and to the challenges of constitutional multilingualism, hence the introduction of this national language policy framework. In nigeria there is no explicit and comprehensive national language policy but the documents for language planning are found in the 1979 and 1999 constitutions and the national policy on education of 1981 which was revised in 1998 to accommodate french as one of nigerias official languages. Prior to then, education was done informally, as children were taught tradition, culture, history, and the likes by their parents who were in turn taught by. The result also shows that multilingualism affects teaching and learning and general performance of students and the educational system in nigeria. Finally, the study identified that the use of mother tongueindigenous language should be chosen to enhance academic performances of. This paper argues from a different trajectory of diaglossic language policy such that gives functional roles to both. Balewa administration diplomatic practice as stated earlier, the foundation of nigerias diplomatic practice was laid in the late fifties, not in 1960 as presumed by some scholars. The paper examines elements affecting language policy and planning, and their impact on education in africa, with a focus on nigeria. About 450 languages are spoken in nigeria with hausa, igbo and yoruba as the major languages. Federal government of nigeria should do more in the enforcement of the multilingual provisions in all sectors of education and also develop more educational resources and orthographies of indigenous languages to meet the demands of multilingual education.
As reported in 2003, nigerian english and nigerian pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in nigeria. It starts by considering the classification of the. Jul 08, 2015 national youth policy of nigeria revised 2009 federal ministry of youth development 1. History and importance of english language in nigeria. Formulation and implementation of educational policies in nigeria. The official language of nigeria is english, the former language of colonial british nigeria. Language teaching and language policy in nigeria by david. Language policy and minority language education in nigeria. Educational policy in nigeria from the colonial era to the. Unfortunately, full compliance with the national policy expectations in terms of quantity and quality is yet to be realized in nigeria. The relationship between discretionary policy of admission and the quality of university education in nigeria is not significant. Preface nigeria is a country of rich ethnocultural diversity of over 350 distinct ethnic groups and over 500 indigenous languages with an estimated population. Two main modern pronouncements on language policy in nigeria merit our attention, to wit the national policy on education 1977, revised in 1981, and the 1979 constitution, which is more cited than its 1989 reincarnation. Nigerias linguistic diversity is a microcosm of africa as a whole, encompassing three major african languages families.
National youth policy of nigeria revised 2009 federal. Mar 07, 2017 nigerias national policy on education stipulates that the language of instruction for the first three years should be the indigenous language of the child or the language of hisher immediate environment, most commonly hausa, ibo, or yoruba. National policy on education in nigeria nigerian finder. Education, english, language, multilingual, national, nigeria, policy. The languages of nigeria are classified into three broad linguistic groups. Language policy on education in nigeria american research. A discussion of nigeria s national language policy looks at the official structure for language instruction, its rationale, and perceived problems and possibilities.
Policy implementation and its challenges in nigeria. There is no doubt that we have multiplicity of languages among different ethnic groups in nigeria with each group guarding its language jealously, yet there has not been a separate language policy, rather the bits and fragments in the national policy on education 1977 revised in 1981. This paper attempts a trend analysis of educational policy formulation in nigeria and also examines the implication of nigerias experience on both educational planning and policy making in the country. Let nigerians talk about their future, their hopes and aspirations, and this is the starting point. There is a widened western educational gap between the north and south of nigeria with the predominantly muslim areas of the north lagging behind due to some. This paper examines nigerias language policies in terms of i the historical, sociolinguistic, political, educational, and ideological contexts in which they arose. Oyeoku dean, faculty of arts university of nigeria. It focuses particularly on language in education and.
Okoroma educational policies and problems of implementation in nigeria 247 a policy brings about a meaningful relationship between business objectives and organisational functions as it discourages deviations from planned courses of action. Nigeria is a multilingual country comprises of different races, which. In july 2001, the council submitted its advice to the minister in a report entitled language policy framework for south african higher education. Prospect for national unity dare williams omotoyinbo1a abstract various studies on the national policy on education npe have concentrated on the cognitive value of pedagogy and learning of the language aspect but few have viewed its importance on the togetherness of the nation nigeria. Such policies testify to the attention supposedly devoted to education, unity and independence. The revision of educational policies newlook france pdf is being considered as. An overview of nigeria foreign policy nigerias foreign policy from 1960 2012 is going to be examined thematically in relation to regime. Eric ej824107 language policy and planning in nigeria. The fourth discusses language maintenance and language shift in nigeria with respect to the indigenous languages and english, the exoglossic. Prior to then, education was done informally, as children were taught tradition, culture, history, and the likes by their parents who were in turn taught by their own parents.
Tessa integrated manual for the retraining of teachers english language. The impact of the national policy on education npe on multilingual proficiency in nigeria udoye, ifeoma emmanuela anambra state university, uli, nigeria. Problems, prospects and perspectives morakinyo ogunmodimu linguistics department tulane university. The core section of the monograph investigates language policy and planning, with an emphasis on the mother tongue medium or first language policy and the multilingual policy. The national policy on education in nigeria is a statement of the governments regulations, anticipations, expectations, goals, requirements and standards for quality education delivery in nigeria. A discussion of nigerias national language policy looks at the official structure for language instruction, its rationale, and perceived problems and possibilities. It is the view of the formulated education policy in nigeria to use education as a vehicle in achieving national development. Language policy is the plan of course of action of a dynamic programme in directing language affairs as needed by government. Language teaching and language policy in nigeria request pdf. This paper therefore tries to examine the language situation in nigeria, the need for the language policy that will address the national language question and the pedagogical relevance of such policy. It should also be noted that state governments also finance higher education in nigeria but the magnitude of their finances on higher education varies according to the number of such institutions that are owned by such states.
Goodluck ebele jonathan appointed a minister for the new ministry of communications technology. Admission policies and the quality of university education. Arabic language, language planning, language policy, nigeria introduction language planning may be seen as an attempt to interfere. Historical analysis of educational policy formulation in. Dec 18, 2009 formulation and implementation of educational policies in nigeria 1. The outcome of the seminar was a draft document which. Communication in the english language is much more popular in the countrys urban communities than it is in the rural areas. Like most other developing countries, nigeria is undergoing rapid economic, social and political reforms.
Request pdf language teaching and language policy in nigeria in recent years there has been renewed interest in the study of languages in nigeria. Two other less cited documents exist, to wit the 1989 constitution and the 1987 political bureau report. The huge nigercongo group is further subdivided into nine major branches, including the kwa subgroup, spoken in the extreme southwestern corner of the country. This policy may, however, not always be followed at schools throughout the country, and. They are divided into a complex nexus of interrelated clans. Central books ltd and the linguistic association of. A policy is a principle or protocol that guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. In nigeria, language policy on education dates back to the colonial era when in.
The federal government of nigeria in the national policy on education 2004 admits as much and described it as the key to the success or failure of the whole system. Curriculum and indigenous education for technological advancement dr hamiltonekeke, jt and dr dorgu, ebiere theresa department of teacher education, niger delta university, wilberforce island, bayelsa state, nigeria, abstract. Educational policies and problems of implementation in nigeria. University of nigeria noun, was established in july, 1983, by an act of the national assembly as the first distance learning tertiary institution in nigeria when it became crystal clear to the then federal government that the ever growing demand for education by her people cannot be met by the traditional means of facetoface classroom. Reviewing national policy on education 2008 thecable.
A policy ensures consistency of action because an organisation is governed by approved principles. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the study of languages in nigeria. The curricula at various levels must be tuned to lubricate the wheels and make the. The curricula at various levels must be tuned to lubricate the wheels and make the hub of the nigerian education system free and flexible enough to accelerate the attainment of the new aspirations of nigeria towards the realization of vision 202020 which include technological advancement. National policy on education 1977, revised in 1981, and the 1979 constitution. Formulation and implementation of educational policies in nigeria dayo odukoya, ph.
In order to assign functional roles to the multiplicity of languages, the. National youth policy of nigeria revised 2009 federal ministry of youth development 1. Admission policies and the quality of university education in. The second section discusses language spread and use. Foreign policy strategy of the federal republic of nigeria. Implementing the national language policy in nigerian schools. It is the policy of the federal republic of nigeria that the least formal paper qualification of a teacher shall be the nigeria certificate in education n. In recent years there has been renewed interest in. Toward the development of a multilingual language policy in nigeria. Balewa administration diplomatic practice as stated earlier, the foundation of nigerias diplomatic practice was laid in the late fifties, not in. It traces the formulation of educational policies right from 1914 when lord lugard amalgamated the lagos colony, southern and northern. The need for a national lingual franca that indexes the national identity of nigeria is one that has been theorized and debated through different lenses under language policy with the conflicting themes being the asymmetric relationship between an. Educational policy in nigeria hauwa imam educational policy in nigeria from the colonial era to the postindependence period hauwa imam1 abstract.
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