Language Policy Implementation Challenges in Public Primary Schools in Ogun State

This study investigates the challenges of implementing Nigeria's national language-in-education policy in public primary schools in Ogun State, South West Nigeria. The National Policy on Education mandates instruction in the mother tongue or language of the immediate community for the first three years of primary school, yet implementation across Nigerian states has been inconsistent, under-resourced, and contested by parents and teachers alike. The study adopts a qualitative case study design with data collected from twelve primary schools across Abeokuta, Sagamu, and Ijebu Ode through teacher interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of school language policy documents. The theoretical framework draws on language-in-education policy scholarship and sociolinguistic ecology. Findings identify three principal challenges: the scarcity of trained mother tongue teachers, the absence of standardised Yoruba instructional materials at the appropriate grade levels, and parental preference for early English-medium instruction as a marker of educational ambition. The study further notes a contradiction between official policy and de facto classroom practice, with English serving as the primary medium even in officially designated Yoruba-medium classes. The research contributes to the language policy literature and recommends community engagement, teacher capacity-building, and resource provision as immediate priorities for policy reform in Ogun State. Keywords: language policy, primary education, Yoruba, Ogun State, mother tongue instruction.