The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has on Wednesday 28th August 2019 disclosed that steps are being taken to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Almajiri schools across the country.
According to the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Hamid Boboyi, at the opening of a five-day training programme for 135 Master Trainers to improve the quality of teaching in the Integrated Quranic Tsangaya Education (IQTE), taking place in Kaduna, Kaduna State.
Boboyi added that the move was to ensure graduates of the Almajiri system of education compete favourably with their counterparts from conventional schools.
In his words “You will recall that the commission had in 2010 introduced the Almajri Education programme to integrate the Almajiris into basic education and increase access and equity to all children of school-going age in Nigeria.
From the inception of the programme to date, Federal Government had constructed 157 Model Tsangaya Schools in 27 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,” Boboyi said.
He, however, observed that State Governments, whose responsibility was to provide basic education at the State level had failed to maximally utilize most of the schools.
According to him, states have defaulted in the areas of feeding the learners, deployment of basic education teachers and their welfare.
The ES observed that the pilot scheme was introduced in nine states with the plan to scale-up to all other States where the Almajiri phenomenon was endemic.
He identified the nine States to include Adamawa, Bauchi, Yobe, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Niger and Oyo.
Also, in his remarks, Shehu Makarfi, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Education stated that the State Government is making efforts to provide inclusive education for all ages with emphasis on basic education.
Mr Makarfi, who was represented by the Director of Public Schools, Dahuru Anchau, informed that the State had commenced plan to integrate Almajiri education into the mainstream formal education education system.