Vice President Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke Ogene has called for collective action for the effective implementation of the Federal Government’s new National Language Policy.
Speaking in Awka, Anambra state, Chief Okeke Ogene said this would help reverse the decline in the use of Igbo and other local languages nationwide.
It would be recalled that the federal government recently introduced a new policy aimed at promoting the teaching of primary school pupils in local languages rather than in English.
According to the new policy, instruction for the first six years in primary schools will be in the mother tongue.
Chief Okeke Ogene said the new policy would help towards rebuilding the academic curriculum and lamented that excessive use of foreign languages is destroying ties, unity, and understanding in families, communities, and society at large.
He noted that the mother tongue remains the basis for cohesion, growth, and development and commended the church for consistency in promoting the use of the Igbo language in its various activities while calling the National Examination Council NECO and West Africa Examination Council WAEC to make mother tongue one of the compulsory subjects for candidates to be eligible to sit for the examinations.
One called for capacity building of teachers in teaching local languages and the provision of necessary teaching materials to achieve the set objectives.
A community leader, Chief Christian Onuorah while commending the federal government for the policy, reminded parents, community leaders, and other stakeholders of the need to promote the mother tongue to protect and preserve Igbo cultural identity.
Dominica Nwabufo
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