The Nigerian Government has officially scrapped the National Language Policy that made indigenous languages the primary medium of instruction in Nigerian schools.
Instead, English will serve as the only language of instruction across all levels of education in the country
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa made the announcement on Wednesday,November 12,2025, during the 2025 Language in Education International Conference organised by the British Council in Abuja.
The now-abolished 2022 National Language Policy (NLP) had directed that from early childhood education up to Primary Six, teaching should be conducted in the learners’ mother tongue or in the language of their immediate community.
The policy was introduced to strengthen indigenous languages, promote cultural identity, and improve early learning outcomes, while English remained the language for higher education and official communication.
However, Dr. Alausa said new findings show that the policy has hindered students’ academic performance, leading to widespread poor results in public examinations.
“We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an oversubscribed manner,” Alausa said.
“This is about evidence-based governance. English now stands as the medium of instruction from the pre-primary, primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, and to the tertiary education level”,he added.
The minister stated that extensive research and national data revealed a strong link between the use of indigenous languages and poor English comprehension and low exam scores.
“Using 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,” he stated.
He confirmed that the National Language Policy has been fully cancelled, stressing that English will now be the uniform language of instruction nationwide.
“The national policy on language has been cancelled. English now stands as the medium of instruction across all levels of education,” he declared.
Alausa urged education stakeholders who disagree with the decision to back their opinions with verifiable data, assuring that the government remains open to constructive, evidence-based discussions aimed at improving the education system.
He also commended the British Council for its long-standing partnership and contribution to Nigeria’s education sector through teacher training and language development initiatives.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed revealed that the government has introduced new teacher training modules focused on improving literacy and numeracy at the foundational level.
“Now we are designing a training package for the teachers that focuses on the learning of literacy and numeracy,” she explained.
“This is specifically training teachers that teach across the foundation level from pre-primary to primary one to three. We are training them on how best to teach literacy, how best to teach numeracy, and of course, the approach, “she added.
In her remarks, Donna McGowan, the Country Director of the British Council Nigeria, reaffirmed the council’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s education reform.
“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.
