FG Constitutes Committee on Use of Local Languages to Teach Science, Mathematics 

By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

‎The federal government on Tuesday constituted an inter-ministerial committee on the use of local languages to teach Science and Mathematics in primary and secondary schools in the country.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, while inaugurating the ‎committee in Abuja, said all the nations that have done very well in the world had used their ‎indigenous languages in teaching  their children Mathematics and Science at primary and secondary school levels.

He noted that his ministry was determined to work closely with the Ministry of Education in the new direction, adding that it was very important to make sure that in primary and secondary schools Mathematics and Science are taught in local languages.

‎According to him, “Nigeria has produced a Nobel Laureate in Literature. We have not yet produced one in Science and we are anxious to produce a Nobel Laureate in Science and the only way we can do it is to make sure our children are interested in pursuing careers in the areas of Science and Technology engineering; and they can’t do it unless you can make them comfortable with Mathematics and Science at the early stages in primary and secondary schools.”

Onu stressed that the first hurdle ‎to overcome is to make sure these languages are developed to a level where they would have capacity to teach Mathematics and Science.