EX-NUC BOSS SEEKS ESTABLISHMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE VILLAGE

A former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Munzali Jibril, has urged the Federal Government to establish an English Language Village to address the falling standards in teaching and learning.

Jibrin, who spoke at a National Conference of English Language Teaching in Abuja on Tuesday, called for the equivalent of the French Village located in Badagry, Lagos State. The conference was organised by the British Council in partnership with telecoms firm, Etisalat.

He called for an inquest into fluctuations in the pass rate in annual examination results released by the National Examination Council.

He said, 'I will recommend a commissioned forensic study to investigate fluctuations in the outcome of NECO exams over the years.'

He noted that before the advent of NECO, the pass rate among students who sat for English Language in the West African Examinations Council examination was between six and 14 per cent. Jibril, who is a professor of English Language, also noted that inadequate funding of education was largely responsible for the slide in the quality of teaching and learning of the language in Nigeria.

In a presentation at the event, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat, Mr. Steve Evans, said the company had been providing support to the education sector as part of its corporate social responsibility.