Jigawa lawmakers pass bill for creation of Tsangaya education board

The Jigawa State House of Assembly has passed a bill for the creation of a Tsangaya Education Board to address the menace of out-of-school children in the state.

The bill, which is now awaiting the governor’s assent to become law, aims to integrate Tsangaya (Almajiri) schools into the mainstream educational system.

The bill’s passage followed deliberations in the Committee of the Whole House during the plenary session,
presided over by the Speaker, Haruna Aliyu, on Thursday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the state’s 2024 budget, presented to the house by Governor Umar Namadi, provided for the creation of a Tsangaya Education Board.

The chairperson of the House Committee on Basic Education, Ado Zandam, told reporters that the Almajiri are the pupils categorised as out-of-school children in the state even though they were undertaking Qur’anic education.

He said the proposed Board would address the out-of-school children menace in the state by allowing the Almajiri to enrol in both Islamic and Western education systems.

“The bill also promotes the integration of the Almajiri school system into the mainstream educational system.

“The bill, if passed into law, will strengthen the educational system to enable the pupils to get both Western and Islamic education.

“The Almajiri system is an old system which has been in existence in the country even before the coming of the Whiteman.

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“We want to integrate the system in a proper way that would take the children out of the streets begging for food”, Mr Zandam said.

The state government, in July, agreed to collaborate with Alfurqan Qur’anic Foundation, a Saudi Arabia-based Islamic organisation, to enhance the Tsangaya (Almajiri) Qur’anic education system in Jigawa.