Udengs Eradiri, the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Bayelsa State, has urged the Douye Diri-led administration to reconsider its plan of introducing the Chinese language into the school curriculum. The state government had recently announced its intention to prioritize the teaching and learning of Ijaw, French, and Chinese languages, along with science and mathematics, in public schools.
While acknowledging the value of learning new languages, Eradiri emphasized that such additions to the curriculum should be based on a needs assessment to ascertain their relevance to the state and its people. The former commissioner in Bayelsa contended that there were no political, cultural, or bilateral ties between Bayelsa and China that justified the inclusion of Chinese as a language in the schools.
Eradiri pointed out the absence of projections for future interactions between Bayelsa and China, whether in trade or tourism, to justify dedicating state resources to teaching Chinese. He noted that the state’s cargo airport, which could have facilitated bilateral opportunities, was not functioning effectively.
Instead, Eradiri proposed a review of the curriculum to incorporate globally recognized and relevant programs with vast opportunities. He emphasized the need to focus on trending subjects such as artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, information and communication technology (ICT), and agriculture.
According to Eradiri, the government should redirect its efforts toward introducing and emphasizing these subjects in the school curriculum to enable Bayelsa children to compete effectively in the evolving landscape shaped by science and technology, rather than investing resources in teaching a foreign language without clear purpose and direction. He suggested a curriculum review with a focus on agriculture, particularly highlighting the state’s economic strengths like rice production, to make a more impactful and youth-oriented contribution.
