After an initial hiccup, the integrated model almajiri school system in Niger State is set to start. Will this combination of western and Islamic education take the children out of various streets in the state?
In a bid to take the almajirai off the streets, the Niger State Government has initiated a learning programme where the children would acquire both Islamic and western education.
In light of this, the state government recently inaugurated the first Comprehensive Model Integrated Quran Education (IQE) centres in Minna, the state capital.
The centres are coming on the heels of the massive movement of the almajirai by some state governments to their respective states of origin at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which some of them tested positive.
Niger also received a number of almajirai from different states of the federation and kept them in isolation before they were reconnected with their parents.
Beyond the COVID-19 incident, the state police command uncovered a torture centre at the new Angwa Kwamba in Suleja, where 15 almajarai were held in a dehumanised condition.
According to the command’s public relations officer, ASP Wasiu Abiodun, “The children, whose ages range between 2 and 10 years, were rescued from the suspect’s house. Three chains used to tie their legs were also recovered.”
The state government said these anomalies and many others propelled it into removing them from the streets and integrating them into the school system, where both systems of education can be pursued simultaneously.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that some of the facilities built by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration for its almajirai integration policy were being refurbished and renovated for the new programme, while new centres have been built.
Our findings showed that Agaie, Lapai, Borgu and Kagara emirate councils were not captured in the earlier initiative. The new efforts, according to the template, will take care of the affected emirates, while facilities in Minna, Bida, Kontagora and Suleja were being upgraded.
The chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), Dr Isa Adamu, said proprietors of Islamic schools contributed in drawing the curriculum of the new programme.
“The state government understands that the proprietors of Quranic schools and the alaramma are not willing to allow their almajirai to go to the existing IQE centres we have in the state due to lack of memorisation of the Quran, which is their main objective.
The state, therefore, decided to introduce memorisation of the Quran (Tahfizul Quran), which will go hand-in-hand with basic education for the almajirai,” he said.
Adamu further explained that in the new curriculum, a child would memorise the Quran at the end of the training and also acquire skills in tailoring and computers to help the state eradicate out-of-school children and remove them from the streets.
He further noted that for Nigeria as a country and Niger as a state to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and education for all, it is necessary to address the almajiri phenomenon at all levels.
According to him, every activity in the centres, which would have 300 pupils each, depending on capacity, will be free.
The programme, which took off from the Minna centre, started with the registration of fresh learners in each of the emirate council. To ensure efficiency, competence tests were also conducted on teachers.
During the commissioning of one of the centres, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said the gesture would put an end to the negative side of the almajiri syndrome.
He added that the second phase of the programme would allow private sector involvement to further achieve good results.
The chairman of the Sheik Dahiru Bauchi Foundation, Sheikh Ibrahim Dahiru Bauchi, who is the consultant for the programme, commended the initiative, saying it is the first of its kind in northern Nigeria.
He said under the IQE programme, at the end of the primary session, pupils in the school would have been able to memorise the entire Qur’an. This, according to him, will make it unnecessary to take children to other states for Islamic education.
The cleric urged the state government to also extend the same programme to Christians, pointing out that religious knowledge is fundamental to the society.
Speaking at the flag-off of the programme in Minna, the scholar called for the establishment of model schools for the integration of western and Quranic education by government at all levels.
Bauchi observed that the integrated school became necessary for the almajiri system of education to be completely wiped out in Nigeria. He noted that unless this is done, the quest for the eradication of almajirai would continue to elude the country.
He also appealed to northern state governors to, as a matter of urgency, consider establishing similar schools in their respective states for maximum benefits.
In his remarks, the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Faruk Bahago, commended the Niger State Government for the initiative, which he said would go a long way in encouraging the almajirai to devote their time in seeking western and Qur’anic knowledge.
Represented by the Hakimin Bosso, Alhaji Muhammadu Muazu Laka, the emir stressed the need for parents in the state to allow their children enroll in the school.
Our correspondent observed that the Minna centre has 11 classrooms, two equipped Information Communication Technology (ICT) centres, one library, one laboratory and one entrepreneurship workshop.
Some of the pupils in the centre expressed satisfaction over the programme, saying it had given them the opportunity to experience a different environment and atmosphere. They, however, said the combination of the two systems of education was new to them.
A 12-year-old Awwal Rabiu, who came from Bena in Rafi Local Government Area, was brought from the Shanghai School with many others, and majority of them are now in primary one.
“I have been coping with the new environment. Now, I can read numbers perfectly and alphabets, which I could not do before. It is a new experience that I am really enjoying. I hope to make my life better from whatever I am learning here,’’ he said.
Also, a nine-year-old Hummaiyatu Muhammed Bello, who left her former school for the new centre because of the incorporation of the memorisation of the Quran, said, “I like my new school because of the incorporation of the Quran in their curriculum. Aside from that, we also learn other subjects, which can enable us compete with other children around,” she said.
On the level of preparedness of the school, the headmaster, Mallam Ahmed Dauda, said, “Since we are just starting, we are still putting things in place for them to start learning different skills, such as tailoring, computer application and carpentry.’’
