From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Embassy of France has earmarked €600,000 for the training of 150 french teachers in Enugu, Oyo, Lagos, Plateau States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
Part of the funds is for the building of a university centre at the Badagry Village in Lagos and for the trainings of journalists.
The Project Coordinator, Atua lumi Ko Nainja, at the French Embassy, and President, French Teachers Association of Nigeria, Feyitimi Babajide Henry, stated this yesterday at a meeting with frwynxh teachers to review the first phase of the project in Abuja.
He said: “This particular project started in May 2023. The Embassy of France, for this project, gave us 600,000 Euros.
“The project has three components; the reinforcement of the skills of the secondary school teachers; We are called to build the university centre at the Badagry Village in Lagos; We also have the trainings for the journalists.
“I have been working with the embassy to help train french teachers in the latest teaching methods especially teachers in primary, secondary school levels within the framework of the project.
“We have been able to train 150 french teachers across five pilot states namely; Enugu, Oyo, Lagos, Plateau and the FCT.
“Also, we have helped them to build up their speaking skills. We enrolled them in classes and, by the help of the Embassy of France put them for international examination.
“From the training they have got they have been able to perform very well in the examination and they have been certified.
“Also, within the framework of the project, we have been to do trainings for some francophone journalists to help improve their way if reporting on the radio.
“We were able to work with international partners. We are working with 10 pilot schools per state across these five states.”
A Professor of French and Applied Linguistics, University of Abuja, Mufutau Tijani, said most students only learn french for academic purpose.
He also, noted that most french students do not where to practice the language as they are surrounded by family members who do not understand the language.
Mufutau, who is also the National President, University French Teachers Association of Nigeria, said: “We are partnering the French Embassy in Nigeria on the French-Up your Career, a programme that aims at looking at and promoting the employability of french students in Nigeria.
“There are many challenges. The environment is not helping matters. Many students when they learn french in the class, they move to their hostel or to their homes, there is no where to practice the language.
“When you learn a language, a foreign language for that matter, you need to practice by speaking it with people who speak the same language.
“The second reason is that many Nigerians are not motivated. They do not see the importance of french. So, some students just learn as a course whereas French is a good course that can create jobs.”