Over 26,000 Nigerians Signed Petition To End Demand For Taking IELTS

Over 26,000 Nigerians Signed Petition To End Demand For Taking IELTS

Over 26,000 Nigerians have signed a Change.org petition to end the demand for English proficiency tests from Nigerians seeking to study or work overseas.

“Stop asking Nigerians to write IELTS,” read the petition, which was started by Policy Shapers.

Because English is the primary medium of instruction in Nigeria at all levels of education, the petition calls for an end to international institutions’ requests that Nigerians take the International English Language Testing System.

The group noted in the petition, which was sent to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, that no Anglophone African country is exempt from taking the English Language test despite being a member of the Commonwealth.

Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and ten other countries have been excused from the test, according to the report.

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Policy Shapers said it had asked the UK Home Office for the protocols it has put in place to assess English competency in the 18 nations on its list, and that it believes the same should be applied to Nigeria and other Anglophone countries on the continent.

The Home Office, on the other hand, has not responded to this, according to the organisation.

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It went on to say that because Nigerians speak English, a test that costs more than three times the minimum salary and has a two-year expiration date should not be required of them.

“Why should Nigerians be forced to take English language competency exams that cost more than three times our minimum income ($210) and the results expire every two years?” the petition asks.

“Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Malta, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, to name a few, are among the 18 countries whose citizens are exempt from taking an English proficiency test (IELTS, TOEFL, etc.) when seeking to study or migrate to the UK.

“However, you may be interested to learn the Home Office list contains no Anglophone African countries (out of the continent’s 20+ English-speaking countries). Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa are not among them. Not a single one. Even though these African nations were once British colonies and are now Commonwealth members! Why?

“According to the BBC, a country must have 51 percent of its people speak English as a first language to be put on the Home Office’s IELTS Exemption list.

“Isn’t that reasonable? Since October, a group of campaigners has written to the Home Office, demanding the mechanisms used to assess English proficiency in the 18 nations on the list, as we believe the same should be applied to Nigeria and other Anglophone countries on the continent.

“The UK Home Office has neglected to answer to this urgent request more than three months after our initial email and multiple follow-up emails (plus plenty of social media posts).”