Almajiri Education: Plan Int’l Exposes FG, Says Implementation Framework, Legislation Never Existed

. Northern govs deny having any out-of-school children 

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

In what has turned out to be a shocking revelation concerning almajiri education, Plan International has revealed that despite years of different policy formulations by different governments, there has never been a legislation or implementation framework to that effect.

In the same vein, some northern governors have argued with the international organisation with claims that there are no out-of-school children in the states as they’re either into formal or Islamic education.

This invariable means that, “the government does not prioritise it, they don’t own it, no budget for it, and without those key instruments, what it means at the end of the day is that it is left for whoever can support it.”

Disclosing this yesterday in Abuja at the one-day presentation of civil society organisations’ position on the revitalisation of the almajiri/tsangaya system of education in Nigeria, Country Director of Plan International, Charles Ushie, said despite mobilising with donors and key partners, the issue is in dire need of an implementation policy.

Lamenting about the frustration of the case, Ushie stated that not so much has been done on the part of the government to change the situation, while noting that data of the almajiri and out-of-school children should be produced by the federal government and not United Nations agencies like UNESCO and UNICEF. 

To this effect, the country director said the Almajiri Education Commission will be held accountable in producing “how many children are registered in almajiri education, how many in Islamic schools and how many are truly out-of-school.”

According to him, “I align with the frustration of one policy to another. It’s not today we stated talking about almajiri education, and not much effort has been made towards it. When we started the consultation, we went back to the government to remind them of the policy they have, and asked why progress is not been made. Then we found out there’s no policy legislation backing it. 

‘And we know in Nigeria, once there’s no policy legislation backing a particular intention, the government does not prioritise it, they don’t own it, no budget for it, and without those key instruments, what it means at the end of the day, is that it is left for whoever can support it, and there’s no one in the world who will prioritise our education more than us. 

“So this is not a new initiative, we are bringing back an initiative that the government themselves put up several years ago and did not make any move to sustain it. Now we have mobilised donors and key partners and are saying we must make this happen. 

“First, we need an implementation which was never developed before. There has never been an implementation frame work for the almajiri education in Nigeria. But now, the minister is saying that the frame work will be endorsed, and will need a policy backing to make it happen.

“Currently, the database in use is that published by the UN and adopted by the federal government, mostly UNESCO and UNICEF. So, the government is either quoting UNESCO or UNICEF data. Why are we quoting data of agencies rather than the government giving us data? Who should have the data? It should be the federal government and the ministry of education. 

“We will hold the Almajiri Commission to account to see how they will ensure that for the first time in history, the almajiri Education Commission how many children are registered in almajiri education, how many in Islamic schools and how many are truly out of school. We are hoping that we will hold the commission accountable to provide this data. Until we do, then we can begin to trust our data.

”When we began the consultation, it might interest you to know that some of the state governments in northern Nigeria argued that the figures are wrong, because in their states, they don’t have any child that is out- of school. Their argument was that every child is either in a formal school or in an Islamic school.”

Meanwhile, the revitalisation programme has commenced in two northern states namely Sokoto and Adamawa and the country director has noted that they have discovered key areas that need to be tackled moving forward.