This research is an assessment of the six years of existence of “Tsangaya Schools” in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The research centers on ascertaining the achievements recorded since after the implementation of the tsangaya schools. Accordingly, the research investigates the challenges facing the implementation processes. The methodology adopted in the research is a direct interview. The tsangaya schools are visited to obtain primary data on the implementation status as well as the nature of running the affairs of the schools. Accordingly, statistical data about the school is obtained from Federal and State Ministries of Education. The research found that there are thirty-five Quranic schools under the program across the state. Also, there has been an effort to integrate formal education in such schools. The research learned that, among others, problems surrounding the program include inadequate staffing, inadequate funding, and an unconducive learning environment.
Keywords: Tsangaya Schools; Almajiri; Kaduna State; Implementation; Education
Sulaiman Salisu Muhammad
Department
of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics
Kaduna State University
08067917740
Introduction
This research assesses the six years of existence of Tsangaya Schools in Kaduna State.
Despite the government’s huge investment in education one still notices an
increasing number of child almajiris
on the streets of Nigeria, especially in the Northern part of the country.
These child almajiris like any other
Nigerian children are entitled to free, basic, and compulsory education. Only
recently, the Nigerian government deemed it necessary to come up with the ‘Tsangaya’ Schools Program to ensure that
the number of child almajiris on the
streets of Nigeria is drastically reduced. As part of its
effort to achieve the (MDGS) now sustainable development goals (SDGS)
and (EFA) goals, the Nigerian government in 1999 launched the almajiri
education program with the following objectives within the purview of the (UBE)
program:
i.
Ensure unfettered access to nine (9) years
of Basic Education,
ii. The
Provision of free, Universal Basic Education for every Nigerian child of School
going age;
iii. Reducing drastically the incidence of drop-out
from the formal school system, through improved relevance, quality, and
efficiency; and
iv. Ensuring
the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, manipulative,
communicative, and life skills as well as ethical, moral, and civic values
needed for laying a solid foundation for life-long learning.
The Nigerian
constitution of 1999 and the UBE Act 2004 gave both legal and policy backing to
the almajiri education respectively. Section 18 (1) (3) of the 1999
constitution states that "Government
shall direct its policy toward ensuring that there are equal and adequate
educational opportunities at all levels."
On its part, the
UBE act 2004, section 2 (1) states that ''Every government in Nigeria shall
provide free compulsory and universal basic education for every child of
primary and junior secondary school age."
Section 15 defines
basic education as: "Early childhood
care and education, the nine years of formal schooling, adult literacy and
nonformal education, skills acquisition programs and the education of special
groups such as nomads and migrants, girl-child and women, almajiri, street
children and disabled groups.”
Thus, the almajiri
happens to be one of the persons covered by this act for provision of basic
education. The guiding principles of the almajiri education program are derived
from the provision of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as
well as the national policy on education and the UBE Act 2004.
The objectives of
the Almajiri education program include:
i.
Ensuring the institutional development of
Qur’anic school system and the provision of requisite infrastructural and
welfare facilities, so that it functions as a true almajiri education system,
ii.
Addressing effectively and on a long-term
basis the challenges facing the traditional Qur’anic school sector, especially
as they relate itinerancy and begging;
iii.
Providing viable Educational platforms and
model AlmaJiri schools that could steadily and effectively integrate
conventional discipline into the Qur’anic school system;
iv.
Supporting the emergence of an enabling
environment that could facilitate the effective integration of Islamic
discipline into the basic education program;
v.
Producing quality products that are imbued
with the discipline, moral character, effective and skills to take full
advantage of available opportunities and participate effectively and meaningly
in the socio-economic and political life of the nation;
vi.
Providing basic education access to all
children of school age throughout the country; and
vii.
Discouraging and gradually eliminating
itinerancy and almajiri street begging.
Thus, Kaduna state
is among the fifteen (15) states earlier identified by the UBE Commission as
early 2006, for piloting the integration of Qur'anic and Tsangaya education
(IQTE) into the UBE program. Each of the pilot states was required by UBE to
among others:
i.
to form a state committee on the
implementation of the integration of Qur'anic education, with representation
from various relevant ministries, MDAS, and Non-Governmental
Organisations,
ii.
to obtain baseline data on existing
Qur'nic Schools in respective states;
iii.
to carry out sensitization/mobilization
campaign to garner support for the program; and
iv.
to identify basic needs for the schools.
Accordingly,
therefore, a state implementation Committee was formed with the following
Membership as required by the law:
i.
Jama`atu Nasirul Islam (JNI),
ii.
Ministry of Education;
iii.
Bureau for Religious Matters (Islamic);
iv.
Office of His Excellency, the Executive
Governor, represented by his adviser on Religious matters (Islamic);
v.
Federation of Muslim Women Association of
Nigeria (FOMWAN);
vi.
Millennium Hope (NGO);
vii.
Educational Resource Centre (ERC);
viii.
State Universal Basic Education Board as
Secretary; and
ix.
The State Association of Alarammas
Immediately it was
formed, the Committee carried out various activities, major of which were:
a.
Carried out a baseline survey of all
Qur`anic Schools in the 23 local Government Areas of the state,
b.
Conducted sensitization/mobilization
meetings and visits to Emirs, Chiefs, Religious and opinion leaders and
Alarammas in the state; and
c. Identified
35 Qur'anic Schools across the state as pilots to kick-start the program in the
state.
As a
way of further support to the integration of Qur’anic and Tsangaya Education
(IQTE) program the state government in 2009, then under the leadership of his
Excellency the Vice-president Arc. Muhammad Namadi Sambo, the then governor of
Kaduna state, initiated the establishment of a model Almajiri Boarding Primary
School at Marabar Gwanda, in Sabon gari local government Area. His successor,
his Excellency, late Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, who was also an ardent
supporter of the IQTE program, and indeed quality education in general,
facilitated the official commissioning of the school on 5th May
2012.
How far is the acceptability or otherwise of
this program in Kaduna State remains unknown. To the researcher’s knowledge no
attempts have been made to assess the implementation of the Tsangaya Schools Program in the state.
It is against this background that the present research is set in motion.
Aims
and Objectives
This research aims to assess the six (6) years of existence of Tsangaya
education in Kaduna state. The main objectives of this research are as follows:
i.
To find out
the extent to which teachers of Tsangaya
Schools in Kaduna State have so far adjusted to the new program,
ii.
To
ascertain the level at which the Tsangaya
Schools Program in Kaduna State has impacted on both the teachers and the
pupils;
iii.
To ascertain the number of academic and
non-academic staff, and pupils of Tsangaya schools, under SUBEB in Kaduna
state;
iv.
To look
into the achievements so far recorded in the implementation of the Tsangaya Schools Program; and
v.
To
ascertain the challenges presently facing the Tsangaya Schools Program in Kaduna State.
Methodology
This research involves: (a) Fieldwork and library research. The
fieldwork was in the form of visits to Federal and State (Kaduna) Ministries of
education (SUBEB) to get acquainted with policy matters regarding the Tsangaya Schools program;
(b) the researcher Visited some selected Tsangaya Schools in Kaduna State for physical assessment of
infrastructural facilities as well as discussing with some teachers and pupils
to air their view on the implementation of the program; and
(c) The researcher also had an inter-reaction with other stakeholders
on the implementation of Tsangaya
Schools Program.
Research Findings
Based on the
assessment carried out from the inception of the Tsangaya system of education
in Kaduna state, data indicates a remarkable impact on the people of Kaduna
state which shows a lot of achievements
so far been recorded since the flag-off of this program. Some of these
achievements are as follows:
Identification of 35 pilot Quranic Schools and posting
of teaching Staff to the same Schools by the State
a.
The
Involvement of the Alarammas to manage the Schools, and
b.
Payment
of N9,000 as a quarterly allowance to the 35 Alarammas of the pilot Schools.
This improved effective teaching and learning.
Establishment
of Maraban Gwanda Bilingual Model Boarding Primary School:
As a way of
further support to the integration of Qur’anic and Tsangaya Education (IQTE) program,
the state government in 2009, then under the leadership of his Excellency the
Vice-president Arc. Muhammad Namadi Sambo, initiated the establishment of a
model Almajiri Bilingual Boarding Primary School at Marabar Gwanda, in Sabon
gari local government Area. His successor, his Excellency, late Sir Patrick
Ibrahim Yakowa, who was also an ardent supporter of the IQTE program, and
indeed quality education in general, facilitated the official commissioning of
the school on 5th May 2012. As it is today, the school has an
enrolment of 186 pupils, 82 graduated in 2015/2016 and the school has 35
teaching and non-teaching staff.
Integration of formal education into the Almajiri
Schools
The implementation
of this program, involved the following:
i.
Regular
feeding of the Pupils,
ii.
Provision
of instructional materials, uniforms, and other requirements to the School;
iii.
Collaboration
with ESSPIN in the provision of Basic education in 181 Tsangaya Schools by way
of:
a.
Facilitating
the formulation of a State Almajiri/inclusive Education Policy Framework,
b.
Engagement
of 246 Volunteer Teachers and payment of N4,000.00 as a monthly allowance to
each Volunteer Teacher who were screened, trained, and posted to the Schools
presently working;
c.
Supply
of instructional materials to the schools such as textbooks for English,
Mathematics, and Social Studies, water containers and learning materials; and
d.
Introduction
of a farming scheme for the Alarammas, to enable them farm to produce food
products to feed themselves; thereby discouraging begging. This involves
supporting them with seeds, fertilizers, herbicides as well as
consultants/extension workers. However, few of the Alarammas choose the N3,000
as a monthly allowance instead of the farming scheme.
Major Challenges Facing the Program
The major
challenges facing the scheme are:
i.
Irregular
attendance of Almajiris,
ii.
Drop
out of some Almajiri from the school base on migration;
iii.
Inadequate
teachers of western education in some of the schools that have more than a
hundred Almajiri with only one teacher, that is teacher-student ration;
iv.
Inadequate
instructional materials in some of the schools;
v.
Lack
of conducive teaching and learning environment as a result of absents or
shortages of toilets, tables and chairs, and classrooms; and
vi.
Inadequate
funding for the program.
ESSPIN Support Program
Education Sector Support Program in Nigeria (ESSPIN) has been supporting the integration program
in these 9 local government areas in Kaduna state:
|
|
Local government
Area |
No: Of. Schs |
Location |
Pupil |
|
1 |
Makarfi |
8 |
Rural |
442 |
|
2 |
Kudan |
6 |
Rural |
224 |
|
3 |
Kajuru |
8 |
Rural |
522 |
|
4 |
Igabi |
30 |
U/Area 14 R/Area |
1664 |
|
5 |
Kaduna North |
24 |
Urban |
1424 |
|
6 |
Kaduna south |
17 |
Urban |
1063 |
|
7 |
Jama`a |
29 |
Rural |
1074 |
|
8 |
Kachiya |
35 |
Rural |
1484 |
|
9 |
Kagarko |
33 |
Rural |
12470 |
|
|
|
190 |
|
20,367 |
Number of urban Schools in these 9 local government Area is= 55
Number of the pupils in the urban area = 3, 319
Number of rural schools in the 9 local government Area =135
Number of the pupils in rural area = 17, 048
Total Number of pupils in the 9 local government area 20,367
Summary
A baseline survey
which was carried out in 2008 established 35 pilot Tsangaya
Schools in 23
local government areas of Kaduna state. Thirteen (13) are
located in the
urban area. While the remaining twenty-two, (22) Tsangaya
Schools the
location was a rural area.
While the Number
of Qur`anic Schools recorded is 5,108
Number of
Alarammas /Teachers 7,768
Number of pupils
196,249
ESSPIN Support Program
The summery under
this support in Kaduna state we have the followings:
Total number of
Tsangaya schools in the 9 local government in Kaduna state = 190
Total Number of Students
= 20,367
Schools Universal Basic Education Board,
SUBEB
Number of schools
under the board 238
Number of students
under the board14,629
Number of teaching
staff under the board 274
Number of
Non-Teaching Staff 325
Bibliography
Contact the author.
Great one. Thank you.
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