GEJ’s Almajari schools; So Far so Bad

One of GEJ’s commendable legacies was the transformation of the Almajiri system of education. 10.5 million ‘out of school’ children live in the Northern part of Nigeria. That’s a staggering figure and an indictment on the entire leadership of the North. These children litter the streets with bowls begging for alms instead of getting education.

There is a nexus between poverty and illiteracy. Its therefore not surprising that poverty rate in the North is alarming. To change this negative trend, the Jonathan administration conceived to change the face of Almajari school system of learning by making it more modern through building better schools and improving the academic curricula to fit into modern realities.

400 of such schools were awarded, with 160 of such schools completed before the ‘hurricane change’ that blew him out of office. This beautiful idea like other brilliant policies of government has either been completely abandoned or not receiving the needed attention and funding to make viable.

Some of the schools have been overtaken by grasses. The one in Gwagwalada is under lock and key after millions went into its construction. Out of 10 of such schools in Kano, only 3 is functional. Baluchi has an enrollment of a paltry 380 students. Four years after this beautiful idea was birthed, the cumulative enrolment into the almajari schools in thr entire North is not up to the quarter of a million.

Street begging has continued despite GEJ’s modest effort to replace ‘begging bowls with reading books’. Insurgency thrives when unlearned minds can be easily co-opted and radicalized. Bornu and Yobe have high the highest percentage of ‘out of school’ male children in the country. Could it be the reason why these two states remain the hotbed of insurgency in the country?

Billions of naira has gone into this worthy venture. We must not allow it to go to waste. I expect President as a Northerner to be passionate about the reducing the illiteracy rate in the North. Progress will continue to stall in the North as longer as education is not given top priority. State governors, traditional and religious leaders should all collaborate to end the disgraceful scourge of itinerant begging in the North.

Honest Offor

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About TRENDY

Shift from the Memorization of Facts to the Understanding of Principles.