ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- In a move to safeguard and promote the Yoruba language within its tertiary institutions, the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) has incorporated the Yoruba Language into its General Nigeria Studies (GNS) curriculum.
According to the Daily Post, Professor Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye, the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, announced this development in an interview.
This initiative aligns with the law enacted by the Lagos State Government on August 8, 2018, which requires the inclusion of Yoruba Language in the GNS program of all tertiary institutions under its jurisdiction.
The goal is to preserve and encourage the use of Yoruba among students.
She said, “It is a compulsory course for both 100 and 200-level students, and they must pass it before they graduate.
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“Immediately we transmuted into a university, the senate of the institution approved the teaching of Yoruba Language at the GNS level in 2022, and we started teaching in February during the 2022/2023 session.
“For now, our university is the only institution that is teaching Yoruba for one whole session in the state,” she said. Lafiaji-Okuneye added that the 100-level students at the university had been taught, examined and graded on the course.
“Lecturers teaching Yoruba Language created innovative ways to teach their students to capture their interest. “In the last admission process, we had to move some candidates interested in studying English Language to Yoruba Language because of the population.
“The idea of making Yoruba Language compulsory is because we want our students to know more about the culture. “I urge parents and schools to adopt our language, which can help us to become game changers in preserving the language among children and students”.