Nigeria drops 2022 language policy, cites poor student performance

The Federal Government has officially withdrawn the 2022 National Language Policy, which had mandated the use of local languages as the medium of instruction from early childhood through Primary Six.

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the reversal on Wednesday in Abuja during the opening of the Language in Education International Conference 2025, organised by the British Council.

Alausa explained that English would henceforth serve as the language of instruction at all levels of education—primary, secondary, and tertiary—across the country.

According to him, evidence gathered by the ministry showed that using mother tongues in teaching had contributed to poor academic outcomes and declining literacy rates among pupils.

“The National Policy on Language has been cancelled. English is now the language of instruction in our schools from primary to tertiary levels,” he said. “Language plays a crucial role in learning, and it must be developed and applied uniformly in all subjects.”

The minister argued that the 2022 policy had failed largely because of Nigeria’s vast linguistic diversity, making implementation inconsistent across regions.

“The policy required instruction in the mother tongue during the early years of primary education. But in practice, this was only applied in certain parts of the country,” he noted. “In multilingual communities such as Lagos or Borno, it was nearly impossible to determine a single language of instruction.”

Dr Alausa further disclosed that government-led research revealed widespread learning deficiencies.

“Our data show that many pupils advanced to secondary school without mastering basic literacy and numeracy skills. Some students reach JSS3 or SS3 without adequate learning, only to perform poorly in public examinations such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB,” he said.

He added that examinations were conducted in English while most students were taught in local dialects, creating a gap.