FCTA Ready To Implement National Language Policy – Perm Sec.

Mr Adesola Olusade, Permanent Secretary in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says that the FCT is ready to implement the new National Language Policy, introduced by the Federal Government.

Olusade made the announcement at an end-of-year and award ceremony, organised by the FCT Education Resource Centre (ERC) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Newsmen reports that the national policy, recently approved by the Federal Government, makes the mother tongue a compulsory medium of instruction from primary one to primary six.

He said that once the modalities were set out, the FCT would kick-start the programme, to ensure that indigenous languages of the people would not go into extinction.

“FCT is part of the Federal Government, therefore, when a programme is initiated by the Federal Government, what we look forward to is to domestic and implement it.

“The Education Resource Centre will also pilot the implementation of this policy and for us it is a welcome development and we will implement it to the best of our ability.

“We want to see our young ones speak our dialects and whatever it means for us to support that effort, we will give in to it.”

The permanent secretary added that the FCT Administration in its efforts at promoting quality education and conducive learning environment, would be renovating 100 schools in 100 days.

“The FCT is also implementing a programme called 100 by 100, we want to renovate 100 schools in 100 days.

“However, we might be constrained by limited resources but the first phase of the programme will certainly take off before the end of the year.

“We believe a conducive atmosphere will promote learning and the FCT is committed to improving learning environment in the schools,” said Olusade.

Also speaking, Hajiya Neemat Abdulrahim, Director of the ERC, said the award ceremony was organised to appreciate dedication and commitment to hard work by the centre’s staff and partners.

“This year we feel that there are certain individuals and corporate bodies that have been adding value to what we are doing.

“Reward is motivating because when you give reward you motivate them to do more of what they are doing.

“We also want others who did not receive award this year to work harder to get rewards next year. It is a mind booster for my staff, corporate bodies and the individuals we have recognised.

“We have also extended this year’s award to schools, both public and private schools because without them, our work cannot be complete as they have been adding value to our work in the ERC,” Abdulrahim said.

An award winner, Mr Elijah Olarenwaju, Chief Executive Officer of Access Solutions Ltd., applauded the centre for the recognition, saying that it would spur his company to embark on more corporate social responsibility initiatives.

“We are involved in a lot of corporate social responsibility initiatives and in the education sector, we plan to see how to expand what the government is doing in the education sector.

“We will be making sure that broadband access to schools is made available. It is one of our initiatives and we want to see how we can give back to the society in that area.

“We want to expound the scope of education, so that children everywhere can have access to basic connectivity,” he said.

Newsmen Education correspondent reports that the event featured cultural displays by various schools in the FCT.

Awards were presented to no fewer than 60 outstanding members of staff of the ERC, public and private schools, corporate bodies as well as individuals.