In order to prevent Nigerian culture from been eroded, Lagos State Government yesterday directed
schools in Education District 1 to conduct their Thursday Assembly
sessions in Yoruba language, a mother language for the state, just as it
launched a teacher’s guide for the exercise.
Meantime, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, UNESCO, and Lagos State Government also asked teachers and
parents to desist from discouraging students who speak their local
languages within school premises.
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, and Tutor-General and Permanent
Secretary, Education District 1, Dr. Oluyinka Ayandele, made the appeal
at this year’s International Mother Language Day, IMLD, themed “Towards
Sustainable Future through Multilingual Education,” held at Government
Senior College, Agege Local Government.
Ayandele, after unveiling the handbook, explained that the Thursday
model was tailored after the similar development at the State House of
Assembly, where the lawmakers deliberate in Yoruba language on
Thursdays. She noted that through the book and the usage of Yoruba on
the assembly ground weekly, the culture would be preserved, saying “Our
culture is so rich and we all must embrace it.”
The TG/PS stressed that it was a thing of joy for the state to have a
rich culture and her tenure would not relent in promoting and ensuring
that students embrace it.
“We will no longer ban or scold any students who speak their mother
tongue in school premises which will encourage and boost their learning.
Research has shown that children can learn over seven languages. So why
are we short-changing the children by stopping them since it is not bad
for them to speak their mother language,” she added.
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