Tsangaya schools: Is the reformation of Almajiri system of education in sight-Ummulkhairi Bala Bello

By: Ummulkhairi Bala Bello

The word Almajiri refers to a traditional method of memorizing the Glorious Qur’an where male children are sent to search for Islamic knowledge under the control of an Islamic scholar called Malam. They mostly begin from the age of 3 and 18.

Almajiri system of education has been in existence for a long time. In the north, it has been one of the major sources of education for the average northern family. It has produced a lot of qualified educated people in the northern society. However, it seems that the system is not more creating the values expected of it because of numerous reasons.

Traditionally, the Almajiri system of education is known as the traditional system of education that derived its curriculum from the Holy Qur’an but it seems that nowadays the system has changed because instead of getting the Quranic education,   the Almajiri students end up roaming around begging for alms.

According to an investigation, this is due to the fact they are not given food so they must look for what to eat and survive. This practice not only exposes the children to some social vices at a tender age but also expose them to all sorts of health risks.

The high rate of crime in most of the northern states nowadays are reportedly perpetrated by the product of this failed system. Lack of education, parental guidance and protection, poverty, unemployment, lack of skills, among the reasons that account for why most end up constituting a nuisance to society.

The Northern Governors Forum has also acknowledged the nexus between insecurity in the north and the issue of Almajiri. The Forum, therefore, decided that the best way to curb the insecurity challenge is to reform the Almajiri system. Emphasizing his fears, Kano state Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje noted the possibility of the Almajiri children being recruited by Boko Haram if the government does nothing on time.

Read Also:Kano state constitutes committee on integration of Almajiri education

However, the Almajiri menace is a multilayer. To address it, one needs to probe the root cause. In most instance, poverty is at the heart of why children end up on the streets.  For instance, the rural parents bring their children to the cities to become Almajiri because of poverty when they can’t provide for them on most occasion.

This practice is not right because when they take them to the scholars at the Almajiri schools, they just abandon them and don’t take care of them as they are mostly left to fend for themselves. Also, the parent hardly visits them to know what they are going through in the place.

Some become Almajiri because their mothers are dead or divorced and their stepmothers might be intolerant of them so they prefer to be Almajiri than stay in their father’s house. In other instance, the father might be late, the mother remarries and the new husband is not ready to shoulder the responsibility that comes with bringing the children to his house, so the mother is left with only one easy option, taking them to their father’s family. When the family can’t take care of them, they send them to Almajirci and will not border to go and pay them a visit.

In addressing the educational aspect of the challenge, series of efforts have been made to refine the Almajiri system of education. In fact, under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, there was an effort to remodel the Almajiri system of education all in a bid to address this challenge. However, that plan was successfully implemented beyond campaign rhetoric.

In 2019, the Kano Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje constituted a technical committee to remodel the Almajiri system of education in the state in order to address the menace of children roaming the streets and begging. The objective of the committee was to find a way of integrating the system into the mainstream curriculum-based education system that will comply with international standards.

Read Also:Kano rehabilitates 3 Almajiri integrated boarding schools with N159m

The schools, now renamed Tsangaya Model Primary Schools, are located at Dandishe quarters, Albasu, Gaya, Bichi, Harbau in Tsanyawa and Sakuwa in Dawakin-Kudu. Others are in Doguwa, Kibiya, Garo in Kabo, Warawa, Ganduje in Dawakin-Tofa and Kanwa in Madobi councils. They provide free feedings, uniforms and instructional materials.

The Tsangaya integration system has tripartite trickledown effects. Street beggars are taken off the street and integrated into the newly established Tsangaya schools where they receive Qur’anic education, English language, Mathematics and Arabic language. Those within the Almajiri system but not roaming the streets will be enrolled into nearby primary schools. And finally, the Almajiri schools with thousands of Almajiris would be integrated also into the government’s free and compulsory education system.

Hopefully, with all these government efforts, the street begging and Almajiri menace will be something of the past in Kano state.  With these schools, the numbers of the Almajiri’s moving around and begging is expected to reduce. Other northern states should emulate the Kano template in order to stamp out this problem once and for all.

Fixing the educational aspect of the problem no matter how commendable is not enough. This problem needs a holistic dissection. Poverty must be addressed in the region in order to have a lasting solution. The statistic on the poverty rate in the north is staggering.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 76.3 of those living in North Central, North East, or North-West zones lives below the $1.90 poverty line in 2018/19. Within addressing poverty, sanitizing this Eugene stable will be counterproductive.

Read Also: Kano employs 60 Qur’anic teachers for 15 Almajiri integrated schools

Also, religious scholars need to key into this drive in order for the initiative to succeed. They need to intensify preaching on the need for parents to be responsible and only bare the number of children they can provide for.

Giving birth to children and abandoning them is alien to Islam or any religion for that matter. The divorce rate in the north also needs to be addressed because it directly influences why the children end up on the streets. Government cannot do this alone, the community must join hands to solve the problem so that this cankerworm can be tamed and the parents of the Almajiris should help in making the north safe.

Bello writes from the Department of Mass Communication, Skyline University Nigeria.