Lagos Govt revive Arabic teachings in schools

Lagos State Government has announced readiness to resuscitate Arabic teaching in schools.

At a workshop organized for Arabic teachers on Thursday, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abosede Adelaja, observed that capacity building for teachers and public schools administrations was yielding results.

She explained that the training became necessary as language remains an important element in human life and key component in effective communication.

Adelaja noted that the workshop theme, “Teaching and learning of Arabic language in Lagos State schools; status, challenges and way forward”, depicts the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s attention to preservation of languages.

The official said psychological studies found that speaking two or more languages was a great asset to individuals.

“Instituting various approaches that will aid learning, increase literacy, and optimize school curriculum to enhance capacity of school personnel are clear indications of transformation of the education sector.”

Director, Multilingual International Resource Centre, Taiwo Haastrup, said Arabic language is one of the languages recognized by the United Nations (UN) and spoken by people across the globe.

“Our objective is to train teachers on effective methodologies of Arabic as a foreign language. We want to encourage and resuscitate the interest of teachers and students in the language being a universal means of communication.

“We believe this workshop will spiral an upward increase in enrolment of Arabic language by students in WAEC and NECO examinations as the teacher avail themselves for the impactful sessions.”