The Federal Government of Nigeria has cancelled its National Language Policy mandating indigenous language instruction, declaring English as the sole medium of teaching across all education levels from pre-primary through tertiary institutions.
Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa announced the decision on Wednesday, November 12, at the Language in Education International Conference 2025 organised by the British Council in Abuja. The cancellation was approved at the 69th meeting of the National Council on Education held in Akure, Ondo State, from November 3 to 7, effectively reversing a 2022 policy that required teaching in mother tongues or local community languages from early childhood education through Primary Six.
The two day conference, themed Language, Education and Inclusion: Empowering Every Learner, brought together educators, policymakers, researchers, and development partners from across Africa, South Asia, and the United Kingdom to discuss language based strategies for inclusive education. Dr. Alausa explained that the policy change aims to improve learning outcomes and promote consistency across Nigeria’s educational system.
“English language should be used to teach our students at all levels as a means of instruction. Over the years, mother tongues have been used to teach and this has largely been responsible for the failures recorded in exams. The national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education,” the minister stated.
According to Dr. Alausa, data from national examinations including the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO), and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) revealed that excessive use of indigenous languages in some regions contributed to poor comprehension and declining performance among students. The minister described the reversal as necessary to halt what he termed the destruction of education standards in regions that adopted the indigenous language model over the past 15 years.
“Using the mother tongue language in Nigeria for the past 15 years has literally destroyed education in certain regions. We have to talk about evidence, not emotions,” Dr. Alausa said, emphasizing that policy decisions must be guided by data rather than emotional or cultural sentiment.
The minister noted that data gathered from schools across the country showed students taught primarily in indigenous languages recorded higher failure rates in national examinations and struggled with basic English comprehension. He urged stakeholders with differing views to present verifiable data to support their positions, adding that the government remains open to evidence based dialogue that would strengthen the education sector.
Dr. Alausa added that English provides a unifying communication platform in Nigeria’s multilingual context, which includes over 500 indigenous languages, and opens doors to global knowledge, technology, and opportunities. The government pledged continued support for indigenous language preservation outside formal classroom settings to maintain cultural heritage alongside academic progress.
Minister of State for Education Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed revealed that government has designed a new training package for teachers focusing on literacy and numeracy learning. The program specifically targets teachers who instruct across the foundation level from pre-primary to primary one through three, training them on best practices for teaching literacy, numeracy, and appropriate pedagogical approaches.
Julian Parry, Director of English Programmes for Sub-Saharan Africa at the British Council, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to promoting inclusive and equitable education through language responsive teaching. “Language can act as a bridge to inclusion, identity, and opportunity for every learner,” Parry stated, noting that collaboration and evidence sharing were key to improving educational outcomes globally.
Chikodi Onyemerela, Director of Programmes at the British Council Nigeria, highlighted the organisation’s ongoing work in inclusive education. “Since 2015, through our Pan-Ethnic Classrooms Programme, we have developed inclusive pedagogy initiatives that enable teachers to embed inclusive practices in the classroom,” he explained.
British Council Country Director Donna McGowan pledged the council’s continued support and expertise to Nigeria’s education policies aimed at repositioning the education sector. “We’re committed to working hand-in-hand with the ministry. We work across all areas of education in terms of supporting teacher professional development, school leadership and language proficiency,” McGowan said.
The 2022 National Language Policy had stipulated that children from Early Childhood Education to Primary Six should be taught in their mother tongue or the language of the immediate community. The policy was introduced to promote indigenous languages, recognise their equal status, and improve early childhood learning outcomes, while English remained the official language for higher education and formal settings.
The policy shift marks a major transformation in Nigeria’s education system, with the government emphasizing global competitiveness and uniformity in instruction. The cancellation is expected to reignite debate among education stakeholders, many of whom have argued that early learning in a child’s native language enhances comprehension and cultural identity.
Education experts have expressed mixed reactions to the reversal. Proponents argue that English proficiency provides students with better access to international opportunities and standardizes learning outcomes across Nigeria’s diverse regions. Critics warn that abandoning mother tongue instruction in early childhood education contradicts global research showing children learn more effectively in familiar languages during foundational years.
The announcement comes as Nigeria grapples with persistent challenges in its education sector, including inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortages, and consistently poor performance in international assessments. The government maintains that the evidence based approach to language policy will contribute to reversing Nigeria’s decline in public examination performance and strengthening overall educational standards.
