Bago advocates teaching with Hausa to boost northern school enrolment

Mohammed Bago, the governor of Niger State, has advocated that schools in the northern region should adopt Hausa Language as the medium of teaching in primary and secondary schools to boost enrolment.

According to the governor, adopting mother tongue as a medium of instruction would help tackle the region’s high rate of out-of-school children and encourage greater enrolment in formal education.

Read also: Dubai is getting a $56,000-a-year private school for rich kids

Bago disclosed this while speaking at the National Literary Colloquium held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Baba Muhammad Dzukogi, a literary icon and founder of the Hilltop Arts Foundation,

The event took place at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International.

The Niger State governor who emphasised the significance of language in education, urged the other governors of the northern states to review the education curriculum and adopt Hausa as the language of teaching in the region, stating it would address the school enrolment problem in the region.

“The North has the problem of school enrolment and we as leaders of the region must find a solution to this problem so that our children can be educated. I suggest that the English language should only be taught in primary and secondary schools in the north as a subject but not as a language of instruction.

“I urge my colleagues in the region to review the education curriculum and adopt Hausa as the language of teaching in the region. This will go a long way to inspire enrolment and facilitate understanding among pupils and students. The northern governors should consider adopting it to reduce the rate of out-of-school children,” he said.

Bago noted that adopting Hausa as a regional language of teaching and instruction would inspire enrolment and facilitate understanding among pupils and students and called on the northern governors to consider adopting it to reduce the rate of out-of-school children.

He also encouraged parents to equip their children with books and other school needs to broaden their faculty of thinking.

“Promoting reading culture is one of the best ways to save future generations from the current societal degeneration,” he said.

Read also: Parents edgy over challenging fees as schools resume

Bago promised to ensure that Niger State government collaborate with the Hilltop Arts Foundation to promote reading culture in the country.

Moreover, he said that his administration plans to merge some schools to have vocational training as a way of fostering teaching and learning of skills.