Uchechukwu Nnaike
The Fafunwa Educational Foundation (FEF) has commended the federal government on its recently announced policy of making mother tongue compulsory in primary schools.
The FEF is a non-governmental organisation that analyzes issues affecting Nigeria’s education sector and advocates for salutary policies.
The foundation’s Secretary, Muyiwa Obiyomi, stated that the founder and guiding spirit, Prof Babatunde Fafunwa, former Minister of Education, was an earnest and persuasive champion of adopting the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in primary schools.
“Prof Fafunwa, who died in 2010, encouraged the FEF to organise a series of conferences to advance the case for adopting the mother tongue in childhood education,” stated Fafunwa. “His unrelenting commitment to that cause was borne of his conviction that students become more attuned, confident and grounded when they are taught concepts in the organic medium of their first language.”
He said Fafunwa pioneered the production of a science programme at the primary education level in Nigeria and chaired the ‘Fafunwa Study Group’ on funding primary education.
“The group’s report led to the creation in 1987 of Nigeria’s National Primary Education Commission (NPEC),” added Fafunwa. “He wrote that primary school education in the mother tongue would ‘deliver students from the shackles of colonialism, allow for effective and meaningful communication between the teachers and students within and outside the classroom and also promote the development of mature judgment by the pupils’.”
Obiyomi reiterated Fafunwa’s belief that education must be relevant to the needs of society. He said in recognition of the cognitive benefits of instruction in the mother tongue, the board and members of the FEF resolved that their founder’s passionate cause must be sustained.
“Since Prof Fafunwa’s death, the foundation has held numerous seminars and workshops that offered roadmaps for integrating mother tongue into early education in Nigeria,” he explained.
Mrs Doris Fafunwa, the foundation’s chairperson, expressed delight that the government finally adopted a policy long proposed by her late husband.
She hoped that policymakers, teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders would approach the implementation of the new policy with requisite rigour, wisdom and investment of time and resources, calling on Nigerians to be proud of their rich culture and advising parents to cultivate the habit of interacting with their children and wards in indigenous languages instead of leaving the implementation of mother tongue education entirely to teachers.
Fafunwa added that members of the FEF would be available to assist policymakers and teachers in making the new policy a success.
