The Gombe State government says it has enrolled over 150,000 almajirai into 676 non-formal learning centres established across the state, through the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya disclosed this yesterday during a one-day stakeholders meeting convened by BESDA for Islamic scholars and community leaders in the state.
He said the establishment of the non-formal learning centres through BESDA was aimed at introducing modern education into the Tsangaya curriculum, “so that children in such schools can benefit from the two educational systems.”
He said he had performed a foundation laying ceremony for a mega Tsangaya school at Goni Sani Tsangaya in Gombe metropolis, adding that his administration would construct more of such mega schools in each of the 11 LGAs of the state over the next two years.
He said when completed the one-storey building would comprise classrooms, hostels, offices and skills acquisition centre for the pupils and their teachers.
“Therefore, I call on the proprietors of Tsangaya schools to continue to embrace government policies and programmes aimed at developing the skills and capacity of their almajirai so that they can contribute meaningfully to the development of society,” he said.
Governor Yahaya also commended Qur’anic school teachers for their contributions toward the propagation of Islam by establishing educational institutions and other outreach activities. Earlier, the state’s Coordinator of BESDA, Dr Abdullahi Bappah Ahmed, described the stakeholders’ engagement meeting as necessary to consolidate the gains recorded by the project.
Our correspondent reports that Governor Yahaya was earlier at the Goni Sani Tsangaya in Bolari East Ward of Gombe LGA, where he laid the foundation stone for the construction of an ultramodern Almajiri integrated Qur’anic education centre.
