MOTHER TONGUE USAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A DESIDERATUM FOR ACTUALIZING EDUCATION FOR ALL IN EBONYI STATE; SOUTH EAST NIGERIA.

The study was carried out to investigate the use of mother tongue in teaching primary school pupils as a desideratum for actualizing education for all in Ebonyi State.The study adopted descriptive survey design.The population of the study was 1,149 made up of 1,109 teachers and 40 Head teachers of primary schools in the study area. Out of the population of teachers, 160 was sampled using stratified random sampling technique, while the entire 40 Head teachers was taken for the study because of its relative small number. This gave a total of 200 as sample for the study. The instrument for data collection was 24 structured item questionnaire. The instrument was validated by 3 experts. Cronpuch alpha method was utilized to determine the internal consistency of the instrument which yielded a coefficient of 0.82. The instrument was administered on the respondents with the help of three research assistants and there was a return rate of 100% after three weeks. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested using t-test statistic at 0.05 level of probability findings of the study showed that 24 items (limitations, prospects, strategies) in mother tongue usage were needed; while there was no significant difference in the opinions of teachers and Head teachers on the use of mother tongue for actualizing EFA, Based on the result, recommendations were made for actualizing the EFA programme through mother tongue usage in the state.