Over 1, 000 Almajiris on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 resumed in school as the Integrated Islamic Education popularly known as Almajiri School System takes it’s full toll in Niger State.
The Commissioner for Basic Education, Mallam Danladi Abdulhammed, according to reports described the take-off of the school as a breakthrough.
Abdulhammed said, “We have 1,000 pupils for now that we have registered for admission. In order to streamline western and Quranic education so that it can catch particularly those who are wandering along the road and streets calling themselves almajiri, we have started the centres in earnest.
“We have approved subjects, like the religious knowledge subject and the normal lessons we learn in our conventional schools, so they have a dedicated curriculum.
“It will not look like conventional and it will not look Quranic but there is a diffusion of the two so that they will learn in both ways.”
According to him, the word ‘almajiri’ means ‘a learner,’ but today it has been stigmatised to the point that “when they call you almajiri, they think you are a beggar.”
While urging the teachers to be prompt in attendance, the Emir of Suleja and Chairman of the Implementation Committee for the Almajiri Schools in the state, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim, said. “We have done the sensitisation and training of the teachers; we have done admission, and we started today (yesterday).”
A teacher at the Islamic Integrated Education Centre in Minna, Mallam Bello Dauda Mohammed, said the pupils were highly elated to be in school adding that the centre already has 80 pupils.
He said, “We start schools on Saturday to Wednesday. Thursdays and Fridays are our weekends as Islamic school. We resume 8am and close 2pm daily.”
