In an effort to control how Almajiri schools operate in the state, the Kaduna State government plans to register them.
Speaking during a workshop on sharing results and recommendations on the Almajiri System of Education as the basis of legislative involvement supported by the MacArthur Foundation in Kaduna over the weekend, a representative of the Ministry of Justice, Hajiya Khadija, revealed this.
She stated that the Kaduna State Quality Assurance Board will register all of the state's Almajiri schools.
She claims that a committee made up of qualified and knowledgeable specialists has been established to guide the board, with the Ministry of Justice expected to provide its own advice.
The event's national coordinator, Malam Hassan Abubakar, earlier remarked that the Almajiri System of Education has become a significant issue in the North.
He contends that a decision must be made to ensure its efficiency by giving kids the chance to receive a Qur'anic education free from the system's inherent problems.
“The tradition of Qur’anic education as established after the 19th century Jihad in Hausaland was that in respective districts, towns and village under the emirate system, were served with a team of district and village heads, Imam and an Islamic teacher.
“The district and village heads administer the town and ensure justice, the Imam leads in prayers, conduct marriages and serves as judge (Khadi), while the Islamic teacher teaches the religion to the children and adults of the community.
“There was a close connection between the community and Almajiri schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. The malams were hosted and fed by the district or village heads before they settled down, the students were fed by members of the community. The malam enrolled children from the community into his school.”
Thus, he contended under the Sokoto Caliphate, the Almajiri schools were funded from the state’s treasury.
He also said students were taught in various stages from recitation, learning the alphabets, memorisation and advanced learning of books on different branches of knowledge.
“The collapse of the system started with the colonial conquest and the imposition of colonial rule, which began during the wars of colonial conquest that led to the death of many scholars at the battlefield.
“The death reduced the number of learned persons and instilled fear in the ones who survived. This led to the loss of teachers and also weakened the morale of the surviving ones, which disrupted traditional Qur’anic education in both the caliphate and the Borno Empire.”