Bauchi constitutes technical committee to formalise Quranic schools

The Bauchi government has inaugurated a technical committee on Tsangaya and Islamiyya schools to improve the quality of education in the state.

Muhammed Lawal, the education commissioner, delivered a speech at the state capital on Wednesday.

He said the committee was expected to incorporate western education into the Islamiyya and Tsangaya (non-formal education) to provide quality education to every citizen of the state.

“It is also to ensure proper implementation of all the guidelines on the integration of western education into the curriculum of non-formal education, incorporated and adopted as agreed upon,” he said.

Lawal said that setting up the committee was in line with the federal government’s newly established structures for the integration of non-formal to formal education policy.

“We want to address the issue of out-of-school children and this idea came as a result of a roundtable meeting to see how we can work together and find a lasting solution to the issue of out-of-school children in the state,’’ he said.

Lawal said the Islamiyya and Tsangaya schools would be operating with the new curriculum of western education when fully integrated.

He said that the committee would also ensure that the ministry has accurate data on pupils in schools annually.

Lawal urged parents to take advantage of government investment to send their children to school.

Nasir Ala, the chairman of the house committee on education in the state assembly, said setting up a committee would help to develop the state’s education sector.

“I felt overwhelmed because, on November 18, 2024, I presented a motion on the floor of the house, urging the executive arm to remodel Quranic and Tsangaya as well as integrate foundation literacy.

“North Africa has accepted Islamic education. Until recently, Nigeria has yet to accommodate Tsangaya and Quranic schools model in our western education as formal education.

“This has created a misconception that Quranic and Tsangaya pupils are out-of-school children and this is because they are not formally recognised.”

In 2024, the federal government unveiled a roadmap for reforms in the education sector to be implemented before 2027.

The policy document seeks to reduce Nigeria’s out-of-school children by 25 per cent annually, reabsorbing 15 million by 2027.

The plan also seeks to integrate Quranic schools into the formal basic education system while incorporating foundational literacy and numeracy lessons into the curriculum of these non-formal settings.

Suwaba Saidu, minister of state for education, recently stated that Almajiri children should not be regarded as out-of-school.

She said the federal government plans to redefine “out-of-school children” to exclude the Almajiri after incorporating their associated Islamic schools into Nigeria’s formal basic education framework.