Senate Wants FG To Upgrade  Almajiri Schools

The Senate yesterday urged the Federal Government to upgrade the existing almajiri model schools and build more to increase the number of school enrolment.
This is in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children on the streets.
The call was sequel to a point of order moved by Sen. Adamu Aliero (APC-Kebbi) during plenary.
The motion was entitled: “The need to Integrate Almajiri Education into Modern System of Education in Nigeria as a matter of Urgent National Importance”.
The Senate also mandated its committee on Basic and Secondary Education to come up with ways and means of collaborating with state governments on how to get the 14 million children that were currently out of school enrolled in basic and secondary education programme.
Aliero, while raising order 42 and 52 noted that over the years the Federal Government had made commendable efforts to reduce the menace of street begging by introducing Universal Primary Education (UPE) Scheme in 1976 and re-introduced Universal Basic Education (UBE) in September 1999.
He noted that the Almajiri was one of the persons covered by the UBE Act 2004 for the purpose of provision of basic education.
“The UBE Act 2004, Part 1 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”, he said.
He said that based on UNICEF findings, there were more than 14 million out of school children most of them being almajiri roaming the streets of major cities in Nigeria begging for alms and food.
“The past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan embarked on laudable project by building boarding almajiri integrated model schools in which these children are enrolled and given both Islamic and western education, inaugurated in Sokoto,” he said.
Aliero, however, expressed worry that some of the structures were either lying fallow or put into uses other than what they were originally intended for.
“Some of the facilities in the almajiri model schools are already decaying as they have never been put to use”.
He further said that in spite of government’s efforts at integrating the almajiri into modern education system, the implementation of the policy had not achieved the desired result.