Kano state government in conjunction with the United Nations Children Fund, (UNICEF) and Almajiri Children’s Right Initiative (ACRI) has convened a webinar with the topic, “Alternate Pathways of Almajiri Children in Kano,” to discuss the problems and prospects of integrating almajiri education into the mainstream., Tuesday.
Most of the speakers agreed that the way the almajiri system was run in the country deprived the child the basic rights to food, health, shetter and clothing.
In his speech, Governor Umar Ganduje said, “It is not our intention to destroy the Quranic education but to integrate the system.”
He however said, assimilation must be marched with retention.
“We all went through the almajiri system, only that the system is no longer run free of charge as in the past,” the governor said.
He said Quranic teachers only give knowledge but make no provision for food, accommodation, health, etc, of the child, therefore, the Kano state government was set to integrate the almajiri system to provide life-long education for the children.
“Islamic scholars are afraid that memorisation of the Quran will die,” he said, and reassured that the integration of the almajiri system into mainstream education will not stop the memorisation of the Quran but would rather strengthen it.
“We have Islamic and Arabic schools that will take care of the memorisation of the Quran even more efficiently.”
He allayed the fears of the traditional Quranic teachers by assuring that those teachers who want to continue with the old system can continue provided they have the means to provide for the children’s food, healthcare and accommodation.
On the sustainability of the new policy, he said 2 per cent of the Kano tax will be devoted to the cause.
He promised that skill acquisition would be one of the focal areas of the new almajiri education.
“We are already in touch with Islamic and Arabic school boards, BUK and NGO (ACRI) to develop suitable curriculum for them.”
Ganduje promised that with political will they would accomplish the task, and promised to tackle the issue of girl-child education especially now that basic education is free and a compulsory national policy.
An Islamic cleric, Dr Bashir Aliyu, in his speech, said linking almajiri children to insecurity is not fair as the children are only a subset of a bigger set.
“The potential of recruitment (by insurgents) is not to be given to the almajiri system alone. But youth unemployment and limited admission into public institutions is one of the sources of security threats.
Almajiri is just a subset of the reserved army of the illiterate and jobless youths, he said.
Almajiri system, he said, is practised in all Islamic countries with variations in the methodology.
He said Quranic knowledge is a religious duty to Muslims, so Almajiri children are best students in the eyes of God.
He said in Sudan, the almajiri is known as Qalawi. In Nigeria, it is called Almajiri.
Noting that in the past the almajiri did not beg for food but were fed by the community.
In Saudi, he said, there is the Society for the Memorisation of the Quran which is supported by endowments.
Muhammad Sabo Keana of Almajiri Children’s Rights Initiative (ACRI), said Almajiri issue should be of paramount importance to all as it is to ACRI. He said ACRI is mostly concerned with almajiri children’s rights which have been trampled. “Children have the right to education, health, decent living and shelter but all these are absent in the system. He blamed the government which has no political will to solve the lingering almajiri issue.
“Over the years, there has been no political will to address this system of education,” he said, and therefore expressed his appreciation to Dr Ganduje, to address the issue, and called on other northern governors to follow suit.
He appealed to Ganduje to turn Kano state government’s bold initiative and commitment to almajiri integration to reality instead of a mere lip-service.
“Structural changes are important to sustain the almajiri education,” he said.
But the state commissioner of education assured him that “all essentials” had been procured for the smooth running of the programme.
The UNICEF Country Representative, Mr Peter Hawkings, harped on the inculcation of skills in the almajiri education and the rights of the girl-child to education. He said girl-child education is critical to national development, and voted for an education system that would provide livelihood for the children.
“Education should be productive; so almajiri children should come out of school with employable skills,” he said.
He said the need to uphold the rights of the child requires all governments to come in to support almajiri education.
