RELI group advocates use of mother tongue for basic education

Tunde Adeleke, Osogbo

In an effort to enhance teaching and learning in early education, a non-governmental organisation, Regen Education and Leadership Initiative, RELI, has emphasized on the need to adopt the use of mother tongue as instructional language in early education years.

The team lead, Adeyemi Adedeji disclosed that the move which commemorates the Federal Government National Language Policy in Education, is working to ensure deployment of mother tongue in basic education.

Speaking during a visit to the head office of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, in Osun State on Thursday, Adedeji said the RELI’s area of operation covers SDG Goal 4, which is inclusive, high quality education for all.

“We are working to assist government to address the challenges of training teachers in the use of the Mother Tongue for instruction in their various subject areas, development of instructional materials in the mother tongue and advocacy to schools and parents to embrace the National Language Policy in Education, the area in which the NGO needed the partnership with the National Orientation Agency”, he said.

In her response, the Director, NOA, Osun State, Dr. Bola Morgan, commended the RELI team for their passion, foresight and dexterity in articulating the NGO’s ideals, adding that it was rare to see young people driven by the need to preserve the nation’s native languages and culture.

Dr Morgan lauded the group’s ambition to support the government’s effort to overcome the identified challenges in the path of Mother Tongue in Education in Nigeria.

She informed the RELI team that one of the initiatives of the Director General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu was to start a programme of Volunteer Community Brigadiers who would be equipped to conduct advocacy on national values to communities using the mother tongue.