Inter-marrying western, Islamic education for growth

A federal government team on advocacy for infusion of western education into the Islamic school system has been going round the country to sensitise proprietors of Tsangaya Schools MARTIN PAUL writes that the team recently visited Kwara state.
Prelude Nigeria’s education system, particularly at the basic level, is adjudged one with laudable policies, but lacks implementation strategy. One of the reasons is it inculcation in the concurrent list of legislation.
The system provides that basic education should be run by local and state government, but the federal government has magnanimously make itself involved through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) interventions. The commission intervenes in primary and junior secondary schools across the country, using the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) by granting counterpart funding to projects initiated by the state government for the schools. In its quest for such intervention, the federal government, recently, considered the need to integrate western education into the Tsangaya system with a view to making children in the core Islamic schools to have same training and acquire similar knowledge with their counterparts in the western education system.
Essence of advocacy Chairman of the advocacy team, Professor M. M. Jagaba, who led the advocacy team Ilorin, the Kwara state capital recently, told proprietors and students of Islamic schools in the state that the move was good intentions on the part of government.
Hear him: “The federal government has brought western education into Islamic schools and it should be encouraged among the Muslim communities. Nigeria cannot compete with other people of the world, if many of its citizens are not educated in western type of education.
The federal government has participated in several International Community fora and Nigeria has been signatory to most of the declarations.
Part of these is Education For All (EFA) and this is for everybody; a Muslim, a nonMuslim, the able bodied and physically challenged persons. So. Everybody should participate in education. Th at is at the basic of primary to junior secondary school levels.
Role of FG The federal government has been in the forefront of providing necessary requirements like books, writing materials and infrastructures to schools so that every Nigerian child could acquire basic education. We have Islamic and Almajiri or Tsangaya schools, but unfortunately, they are not running western type of education, this is why the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) are advocating the inclusion of western education in the curricular of Islamic schools. This is why the federal government say let us go and meet the proprietors and pupils, find out their challenges and proffer solutions to them. So, this is the essence of our visit, to advocate for the proper integration of western education into the Islamic school system where our children would grow up and be useful and functional to the society and themselves. It is true that some of our children find it difficult to flow along with others in the society because, not that they are not educated, but for lack of western education in their history.
We would listen to your complaints and request and after that present it to the federal government, so that something could be done. While the Tsangaya education is for the northern children, the federal government is also providing boy-child education for west and girl-child education for everyone so that this gap would be fi lled. It is also providing for the physically challenged through the Special School system, so this is why we are here.
As importance as the integration of western education is to Islamic schools, Jagaba did not mince words, when he educated the mallams that why Muslims did not take western education serious in the past, was because Islamic education redates western education. Prior to the decision to carry out the advocacy campaign, the Team Leader disclosed that traditional rulers in the north have been educated on the need for the integration and a memorandum of understanding was written and signed by participants. Former vice-president, Namadi Sambo, Sultan of Sokoto, also signed current Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, then President, Nigeria Governors Forum, signed on behalf of governors.
In his contribution, Director, Special Programmes, UBEC, Malam Mansur Idris, assured that although Tsangaya education falls within basic education system and an exclusive reserve of local and state government, the federal government was in sympathy with what is going on in the country’s basic education system. Nevertheless, this sympathy prompted the decision of the federal government, but the greater parts of what could be done should emanate at the local and state government levels through the use of counterpart funds.
In view of this, he advised state governments to examine complaints and requests of affected schools and see how there could be infused into their projects for presentation to the federal government. Team member, Almajiri Education Committee, Sani Abdullahi, had taken time to educate Islamic Schools Proprietors in Kwara state on how the system of Almajiri education has been successful Jigawa state.
Complaints Challenges facing the schools are not different from others. For instance, Principal of Maricaz Ero-Ottio school, Ibrahim El-Imam Salitiu requested for security, quality Arabic teachers and computers to move the school forward. Representative of Darul Hikmah Islamic Centre, Faruq Olaoti, said the problem of transition and participation in common entrance examination was a major challenge to the school. In the same manner, Hajia Iyabo Ayinde , the headteacher of Tsangaya Model Scholl, Ilorin west, said lack of electricity, Early Child Care Development and Education (ECCDE) teacheing and study materials, as well as care givers and sufficient office, were hindering the growth of the school. Representative of Almajiri School, Shinawu, Barutan local government, Suleiman Ahmed, complaint that their school was unsecured and was exposed to all forms of threats. For Ibrahim Islamic College, the location by a water channel was major problems. Although the structures are maintained, the topography showed the school is on serious problem in rainy season.
Proprietor of the school, Imam Shuiab Abdulsalam, said the state government located the slump for the school and all effort to make the road to school passable has been thwarted by heavy fl ood and finds its way to the canal. Generally, Islamic school operators in the state, demand the impute of federal, state and local governments in areas of electricity supply, staffing of both academic and non-academic teachers, school feeding, instructional material, computers, among other things.
Hope Kwara state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Abdulkareem Lambe, in response to the demands, said challenges facing the schools were, however, not surmountable. He advised the proprietors to present their request on time so that those considered as immediate could be infused in the state budget, while others would presented to UBEC for onward direction to the federal government. Although basic education is in the concurrent list of legislation, where local and state governments have exclusive ownership rights, the establishment of UBEC was to compliment states, where there were difficulties.

 

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