T
he Federal Government (FG) has enrolled 18,670 Almajiri tutors in the conventional school system to integrate traditional and modern education.
Prof. Yahuza Imam, Registrar of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), disclosed this on Sunday in Kaduna while assessing the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s administration after two years in office. The Almajiri Education Programme is one of the Federal Government’s initiatives to address the problem of out-of-school children.
The programme provides access and equity to basic education for all Almajiri school-age children. It also discourages and eliminates the itinerancy and begging of the Almajiris in the country. It also supports the emergence of an enabling environment that could facilitate the effective integration of Islamic disciplines into the basic education programme.
The registrar said that the deliberate efforts and actions taken to integrate Arabic and Islamic education with modernity had resulted in a tremendous increase in school enrolment. The Imam added that the feat was made possible by the engagement of stakeholders, virtual meetings, courtesy visits to some state governors, and ministries of education across the country.
Speaking on coverage, the registrar informed that the board operates in 29 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He expressed that NBAIS had introduced a Special Programme for Huffaz (Qur’anic Tsangaya Tutors) known as the Qur’anic School Integration Programme (QSIP), adding it had introduced entrepreneurship education subjects in the integrated Arabic and Islamic schools.
He said the board had also introduced Junior Arabic and Islamic Studies Certificate Examination (JAISCE) for the accelerated basic education programme.
The Imam informed that NBAIS had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with some key stakeholders to promote and enhance the integration of the Arabic language and Islamic education.
The stakeholders included the Nigerian Arabic Language Village Ngala, Borno, Fountain University, Osun, Borno Arabic, and Tsangaya Education Board (BOSASEB) and Al-Amana Arabic &Islamic Board, Gambia.
Others were the Yobe Arabic and Islamic Education Board (YSAIEB), the Institute of Education, ABU, Zaria, and the Tsangaya Education Board, Duste, Jigawa, among numerous others.
On infrastructural development, Imam said the board had constructed and furnished a one-storey building complex at the Zaria Main Operation Centre, providing backup solar power for it.
He disclosed that the board had constructed its Zonal Offices in Ibadan, Minna, and Gombe and rehabilitated and equipped its administrative building at the Headquarters in Kaduna.
