EBIE CALLS FOR PRIORITIZATION OF TEACHING OF INDIGENIOUS LANGUAGES IN SCHOOLS

The Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Chiedu Ebie has said the teaching of indigenous Languages in schools in the state will be given priority attention so that the local languages in the state would not go into extinction.

The Commissioner made this known during the flag off of the Advocacy for the teaching of indigenous languages in selected pilot schools in Delta State, which held at the conference hall of the Olorogun Felix Ibru Secretariat, Asaba.

Mr Ebie said the National Policy on Education captured the importance of Children learning their mother tongue right from the Early Child Care Development and Education Level to the Junior Secondary School Level which would enable them develop analytical approaches towards the adaptation of their languages.

He also stated that the Federal Government National Policy on Education proposed the usage of the mother tongue or language of immediate environment as language of instruction as this would help equip the children with skills they need to learn additional languages allowing them to transfer their understanding of the structure to several new languages.

The Commissioner urged the indigenous language teachers to take the teaching of the languages seriously as the ministry would do everything in ensuring that indigenous languages becomes entrenched in the school curriculum, while stating that book reviews for the various text on indigenous languages would be done periodically and where necessary grant approvals of such textbooks on the subject areas.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Director Education Resource Centre in the Ministry, Mr Michael Bioseh said that the Delta State Government was aligning itself with the current National Policy on Education to develop curriculum in mother tongue or language of the child's immediate community for instruction in Schools in Delta State so as to save the local languages from going into extinction