How local Mallams resist reform of Almajiri schools in northern Nigeria

Almajiri

•Local teachers in Sokoto see it as lucrative business

•Islamic scholars, activists lament how poverty, neglect fuel crisis

•Why Almajiri schools built by President Jonathan did not last—Dr Falaki, Special Adviser to Kano Gov

•Their right to education gets legal backing in Borno

•Free education in Kebbi makes street begging unattractive

By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri

The word Almajiri was derived from an Arabic word, Al-muhajirun, which means a migrant who travels from one place to another in search of Islamic knowledge under the guidance of an Islamic scholar, popularly known as Mallam. While the Almajiri education system has existed for centuries, it has evolved in ways that now contribute to various social issues, as most people now associate Almajiri with begging.

The practice was, however, bastardized by parents who shy away from their responsibilities by sending their children to acquire Islamic knowledge without providing them with their basic needs, leaving the children to fend for themselves through street begging, thereby constituting a nuisance on the streets.

In some instances, some Islamic teachers have also exploited the children by sending them to the streets to beg for alms. There is also an emerging trend where some children under the care of their parents often disguise themselves as Almajiri pupils to beg for alms. What we now have is an army of Almajiri children in northern Nigeria roaming the streets with their plates hanging by their sides, begging for alms. From Kano down to Borno, Sokoto, and Bauchi states, among other northern states, such children can be seen at motor parks, markets, and filling stations.

This practice has raised concerns about the children’s welfare and has been linked to various ills such as child exploitation, limited access to formal education, health risks, and security issues, among others. According to statistics quoted by UNICEF and attributed to UBEC (2019) and FME (2022), northern Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the country and is where the Almajiri system is prevalent. Opinion leaders, educationists, and security experts, however, agree that the Almajiri system needs to be reformed to address the dangers associated with it, whereas in some areas, efforts to reform the system have been resisted by the Mallams.

Almajiri system in operation alien to North – Comrade Anache

An opinion leader and rights activist in Kebbi State, Comrade Usman Muhammed Anache, described the way the Almajiri system is currently being practiced in northern Nigeria as alien and totally unacceptable. He argued that parents shy away from their responsibilities by sending their children to acquire knowledge without providing them with their basic needs, leaving the children to fend for themselves. The children then resort to street begging and, in the process, fall prey to manipulators who recruit them into banditry, armed robbery, and other forms of crime. He also argued that the local Mallams, who are the beneficiaries of the Almajiri system, have always fought those who are opposed to it and frustrated all efforts put in place to stem the tide of the Almajiri system in northern Nigeria.

Street begging is not Islamic — Islamic scholar Nasidi

An Islamic scholar in Kogi State, Musa Tenimu Nasidi, said a situation where Almajiri children engage in street begging is against Islam. Nasidi said street begging by children has no basis in Islam and challenged those engaging in it to find other means of earning a living. According to him, “The Almajiri system of begging does not represent Islam and must therefore be dissociated from Islam. The truth is that the Qur’an frowned at it with disdain. Islam encourages scholarship and entrepreneurship and frowns at laziness and idleness as exemplified by such street begging by the young boys who are becoming urchins. While some parents may actually love their wards to learn the Qur’an, most of those who send their wards to Almajiri schools do so due to hunger and poverty.”

Parents give birth to children they can’t take care of —Shehu

Another Islamic scholar in Bauchi, Balarabe Shehu, contended the Almajiri problem has persisted because the root cause has not been addressed, noting that the solution must begin from the home where it all started. He said, “The problem of the North is that we know our problem, but we are shy to confront it. The solution to the Almajiri problem is very simple, but we pretend not to know. The idea of Almajiri in itself is not bad. In fact, it is good that children learn the Qur’an from their early days.

But what is wrong is that parents are giving birth to children they cannot take care of and send them away in the name of Almajiri. What kind of region will progress like that? There should therefore be a law mandating the children to return home to their parents immediately after their classes. It is only then that parents will see the need to produce the number of children they can take care of. Anything short of this would be diversionary and counterproductive. I advise that something should be done about this before it is too late,” the scholar advocated.

Similarly, an educationist in Kano, Dr. Abdulsalam Kani, is of the view that parents should be stopped from sending their children long distances for the Almajiri system since Islamic teachers are now available everywhere. If they must send their children to far places, the government should put measures in place to ensure such parents cater to the basic needs of their children to ensure such children do not go into street begging and constitute a nuisance. He said, “We all witnessed what happened during the #EndBadGovernance protests. The Almajiri system has serious security implications.

There is a need for a total modification of the Almajiri system of education since we now have teachers in abundance across the country, unlike before. Parents who insist on taking their children to far places to have Qur’anic education should be made to provide for their basic needs, and there should be proper documentation and other background information of the parents. The government should also have a monitoring mechanism for all Almajiri schools in northern Nigeria. No one should be allowed to operate the Almajiri education system until certain requirements have been met in terms of the size of the school, location, number of classrooms, availability of toilets, water sanitation, and a conducive learning environment.”

There should be a database of all genuine Almajiri pupils — Dr. Gesto

In his own view, a security intelligence and investigation expert in Kano, Dr. Yahuza Gesto, said some individuals engage children to disguise themselves as Almajiri pupils in order to monitor and generate intelligence on some individuals before carrying out attacks on them. He therefore suggested that, “Each polling unit/political ward at the local government, as well as the state, should have codes and build a database of all genuine Almajiri pupils in the area in order to properly monitor them.”

Govt must adopt measures to modernize the system —Dr. Halilu

On his part, Dr. Auwal Halilu, Co-Chairman of a Civil Society Organization working on Almajiri, Kano State Accountability Forum on Education (K-SAFE), said research has shown that most of the children roaming the streets disguising themselves as Almajiri children to beg for alms actually came from their homes, while some were displaced from neighbouring states as a result of insecurity. According to him, “many studies have shown that the majority of the children on the streets of Kano disguising themselves as Almajiris are not really the Almajiris that came in search of knowledge. Some of them are orphans because of insecurity and don’t have actual schools that we can trace them to, or they are children from their homes who came out to the streets because of economic hardship, while some of them are homeless.

Some of the children are real Almajiris, but they are in the hands of facilitators who are not taking good care of them because their parents have neglected them. So, it has become a problem in Kano State now where you see them in large numbers and they constitute a threat to the peace, security, and even mental health of people in society. Because the more you see these children, if you are really a good parent or guardian, you don’t wish your children to be so. For us in the civil society, we are doing our best by calling the attention of the government, and you can see the government setting up a committee to move children that are roaming about off the streets. The majority of the children don’t have a school you can trace them to as Almajiris, they don’t know their parents that you can trace them to, and they don’t even know the state they came from. That means we are in a real problem. The government should therefore devise means of checking the influx of children coming in as Almajiris and should have regulations in place. They can modernize the system by reviving the Qur’anic and Islamic board to encompass the Tsangaya and Islamiyya schools.”

What Kano is doing to keep Almajiri children away from street begging —Dr. Falaki

The Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Tsangaya Schools, Dr. Gwani Falaki, said the government was putting many measures in place to take the Almajiri children away from street begging, as well as improve the Tsangaya system and provide incentives in the form of allowances for the teachers.

He said the government has set up a committee to carry out a review of the Kano State Qur’anic and Islamiyya School Management Board in order to improve the Tsangaya system in the state. According to him, “The governor accorded utmost attention to the Tsangaya system. Upon assumption of office, we conducted a seminar for the Tsangaya school operators from across the 44 Local Government Areas of the state with the aim of improving the system with regards to the enrollment of underage children below 10 years as well as street begging. We have a board called the Kano State Qur’anic and Islamiyya School Management Board to cater to the Almajiri education and Islamiyya.

The Governor has set up a committee to carry out a review of the board in order to improve the Tsangaya system. We advised the governor to select major Tsangaya schools with a long history and large populations in the state to modernize the Tsangaya school by constructing additional classrooms, employing more teachers, reviewing the curriculum, integrating western education, providing accommodation, toilets, teaching and learning aids, and providing a conducive environment for learning, among others, instead of citing the Tsangaya school in a new location. The Tsangaya schools built by former President Goodluck Jonathan could not last nor achieve the set target because some were being run like western education schools.

We have plans to build at least 10 Tsangaya schools in each of the three senatorial zones in the state. We supported 50 Tsangaya schools that we observed were lacking in proper hygiene and sanitation. We are partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture to teach the children farming techniques and provide them with hectares of land to cultivate.

When they finish their classes, they will go to the farm, and what is cultivated will be used to cater to their feeding. This will empower the teachers with capital and livelihoods while the children will acquire some skills, which will also keep them away from street begging and improve their knowledge.”

Almajiri children’s right to education gets legal backing in Borno

Like Kano, apparently worried by the situation, Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, signed the Child Rights Act into law. With the Child Rights Protection Bill signed into law, Borno became the 29th state in Nigeria to domesticate the Child Rights Act enacted by the Federal Government in 2003. With this development, it is also a victory for the Borno children, especially the Almajiris, as their rights to education, among others, now have legal backing. Zulum also held a summit last year, aimed at reforming the Almajiri education system, a traditional Islamic method of learning widely obtained across states in northern Nigeria.

The summit provided a platform for participants to discuss issues, share insights, and propose actionable solutions to the challenges faced by the Almajiri education system. Governor Zulum emphasized the need to address the root causes of insecurity through the provision of education for all citizens of Borno, stressing that improper teaching of Islamic studies has contributed to the emergence of Boko Haram insurgents in the state. He noted that to curtail the adverse effects associated with Almajiri education, the Borno State Government has established the Arabic and Tsangaya Education Board, introducing a unified curriculum for Tsangaya and Islamic schools.

Zulum stated that the reform includes establishing Higher Islamic Colleges that cater specifically to Almajiri children, blending religious and secular curricula and equipping them with skills vital for their personal development and future employment opportunities.

“The Tsangaya Reform is a great development and will give Almajiri a better chance in life, particularly the introduction of integrating western education, vocational, numeracy, and literacy skills into the centres, which are also described as Almajiri and Islamic schools,” he said.

Also, in an attempt to address some of the challenges posed by the Almajiri system, the Governor in 2023 shared N734m alongside books and grains in thousands of bags to over 4,945 traditional Islamic schools. The support came from Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) through a collaboration with the Borno State Universal Basic Education Board (BOSUBED) and the Borno State Arabic and Tsangaya Education Board (which regulates the Almajiri schools).

Reacting to the number of out-of-school children in Borno State, the Commissioner for Education, Innovation, Science and Technology, Engr. Lawan Wakilbe, said the 13 years of attacks by the Boko Haram sect had sacked millions of people, including children, from their ancestral homes, adding that the situation had also forced an unspecified number of children out of school, as a significant number of them now live in camps.

Free education in Kebbi makes street begging unattractive

In Kebbi State, the Commissioner for Education, Professor Halima Bande, said that the state government has forced down the number of out-of-school children from 67.6% to nearly 30% in the state due to a high enrollment drive promoted by Governor Idris through his free education and improved school feeding programme, thus making Almajiri street begging unattractive.

According to Bande, the Ministry of Education discovered that poverty was the root cause of out-of-school children in the state, and the government decided to tackle it by supporting parents who were too poor to send their children to school and instead decided to hand over their children to local Mallams.

It’s a lucrative business for local teachers in Sokoto

In Sokoto State, successive administrations in the state devoted millions of naira to modernize the Almajiri system by establishing the Arabic and Islamic Education Board for many Almajiri schools across the state, but this failed as many of the local teachers/Mallams were opposed to it.

The state Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Prof. Sani Jabir Mai Hula, said his ministry has been conducting seminars and workshops for local Qur’anic tutors on the need to stay back in their rural villages with the innocent children to learn the Qur’an.

“We have built blocks of classrooms right in their communities and provided allowances to the teachers just to keep them comfortable, but all these to no avail, as many of them prefer to come to the cities with the children because they consider coming to the cities as a lucrative business,” Prof. Mai Hula said. On the other hand, the Executive Chairman of the Sokoto State Universal Education Board (SUBEB), Umar Nagwari Tambuwal, however, said thousands of school-age children and school dropouts were returned to school by the Board from 2023 to January this year. He said many of them were children of IDPs who were initially in schools but were displaced by the continued banditry and kidnapping in many parts of the state.

Vanguard Media Ltd