The Education First English Proficiency Index ranks countries by the equity of English language skills amongst adults who took the EF test, and in the 2022 edition, the ranking was calculated using test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2021.
The Education First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) has ranked Nigeria 3rd in Africa and 28th globally in its 2022 English Proficiency Index ranking of 111 countries and regions by English skills.
According to the ranking, Nigeria, with 564 English proficiency came ahead of Switzerland which took the 29th position, Argentina which came 30th, Hong Kong in China which came 31st, Italy which ranked 32nd, Spain which ranked 33rd and Ghana which emerged 41st globally respectively.
The ranking on the regional level, of 20 African countries captured in the Education First English Proficiency Index, put Nigeria in 3rd position after South Africa which ranked 12th globally and first in Africa and Kenya which ranked 20th globally and 2nd in Africa.
The Education First English Proficiency Index ranks countries by the equity of English language skills amongst adults who took the EF test, and in the 2022 edition, the ranking was calculated using test data from 2.1 million test takers in 2021.
According to the EF EPI ranking, a country is required to have at least 400 test takers to be included in the index.
In 2022, 0ver 25,000 people signed a petition to stop foreign institutions from demanding an English proficiency test, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), from Nigerians.
The petition initiated by a youth-led open-source platform for policy ideas that address the world’s most pressing challenges called Policy Shapers, was addressed to the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Priti Patel.
The petitioners maintained that no country in Africa, out of the 27 who list English as one of their official languages, is on the Home Office list of countries exempted from taking the test, meanwhile, the UK Home Office has exempted Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and ten other countries from those who would require the test.
A few days ago, media space was filtered with the news of the British Council’s announcement of its decision to revise the fees for the Academic and General Training Modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations for Nigerian candidates, starting September 2023.
Whereas the current cost of the IELTS examination in Nigeria ranges between N80,000 and N90,000, the British Council’s revised fees will rise to N107,500.
