Malam Bello Dogondaji, President, African Network for Bamboo and Raltam (ANBAR),  has stressed the need for consistency in policy formulation and implementation in the education sector.

Dogondaji, who is the Chairman of the Parent Teachers Association of Model Islamic Schools, Kubwa, was commenting on the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) decision to restore the junior secondary component of the Unity Colleges.

He told newsmen in an interview last Saturday in Abuja that the 6-3-3-4 system of education introduced in the ‘80s, was a well thought out policy and wondered why the junior secondary component of it was excised from the Unity Colleges.

Dogondaji noted that the component was removed after the 6-3-3-4 system had been operated successfully for many years.

“The removal of the junior secondary component of the unity colleges created a gap in the country’s education and many parents whose children were affected were in a dilemma as what to do to give their children wholesome education.

“The FEC should be commended for rescuing the country’s education from the inconsistency in policy implementation, which has been the bane of the country’s education,’’ he said.

Dogondaji expressed the need for Muslims to collaborate and cooperate in the establishment of schools that would cater to the needs of their children.

“Our children need to be given the opportunity to acquire Islamic and western education at the same time and this can best be provided by Muslims through collaboration and cooperation.

“Unless we come together and collaborate to establish model schools, we cannot achieve the objective of giving our children the kind of education that they need,’’ he said.

Commenting on the same issue earlier in his opening speech at the Prize Giving Day of Model Islamic Schools, Malam Abdusha-shakoor Alatise, the Head Teacher, stressed the need for states in the Northern part of the country to discard the almajiri system.

“They should introduce model Islamic schools like ours, which offer integrated Islamic education and enroll all almajiris into such schools,’’ he said.

Alatise said that graduates of the almajiri system were deficient educationally and could not fit into modern society, adding that they could only survive by doing menial jobs or begging.

He said that the almajiris system should be done away with because the almajiris were deprived of parental care, while at the same time facing an uncertain future.

Our correspondent reports that the highlight of the occasion was the presentation of prizes to the best students and certificates to the graduating students.