The Fafunwa Educational Foundation (FEF) has expressed concerns over the Federal Government’s decision to reverse the policy mandating the use of mother tongues as the primary language of instruction in early basic education.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, attributed the reversal to poor examination performance in regions that implemented the policy, citing results from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO), and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

But the FEF described the decision as ‘hasty, noting that decades of research did not support the claim that mother tongue instruction is to blame for poor academic performance.

It maintained that children learn best in the language they understand most naturally. “Pupils taught in Yoruba achieved stronger literacy, numeracy, and overall comprehension than peers taught initially in English—and later outperformed them in external examinations, including English.”

Similar findings by scholars, including Prof. Babatunde Ipaye, and international experience from countries such as Japan, China, Spain, Portugal, and Israel, further strengthen this consensus.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) also consistently held that children taught in their mother tongue show significantly higher reading comprehension by the end of primary and lower secondary school.

The group attributed the challenges faced with the policy to weak implementation, particularly inadequate funding, insufficient teacher training, and a lack of instructional materials, among others. rather than flaws in the concept of mother-tongue education itself.