ABSTRACT
A survey of the use of African languages in education in most African countries south of Sahara is bound to present a dismal picture. In a majority of the countries, notably the French-speaking countries and some English-speaking ones such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, the mother-tongue is not used at all in the formal school system. It is natural for linguists and educationists who are convinced about the importance of African language education to wish to deplore the current state of affairs; but this in itself will not do. It is perhaps more important to try and understand why the situation is the way it is. It is only in this way that we may be able to work for an improvement. Educational language policy 'which concerns what languages will be used as media of instruction and as subjects of study at the various levels of public and private education' is an aspect of general language policy in a state.
