Yoruba Language has been integrated into the General Nigeria Studies program at the Lagos State University of Education.
The institution has said that this move is driven by the desire to promote and conserve the Yoruba Language within its student community.
Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, made this disclosure in Lagos on Sunday.
On August 8, 2018, the state government put its seal on a bill with the objective of conserving and advancing the Yoruba Language in tertiary institutions.
The law stipulates that all Lagos State-owned tertiary institutions are required to include Yoruba Language in their GNS curriculum.
The Vice-Chancellor highlighted that Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, now LASUED, began offering Yoruba in GNS courses in 2018 following the bill’s enactment.
Read also: Good Governance Needs Stakeholders Feedback – Gov. Adeleke
‘It is a compulsory course for both 100 and 200-level students, and they must pass it before they graduate.’
‘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.’
She further stated that the 100-level students of the university had been taught, examined and graded on the course.
‘Lecturers teaching Yoruba Language created innovative ways to teach their students in order 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,’ she said.