The Federal Government has enrolled 18,670 tutors for almajirai into the conventional school system as part of broader efforts to integrate traditional education with modern education.
Registrar, National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), Prof. Yahuza Imam, disclosed this on Sunday in Kaduna, while assessing the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s administration after two years in office.
The almajiri education programme is one of the initiatives of the Federal Government to address the problems of out-of-school children.
The programme provides access and equity to basic education for almajirai school age children, discourages and gradually eliminates itinerancy and begging of almajirai in the country.
The programme also supports the emergence of an enabling environment that could facilitate the effective integration of Islamic disciplines into basic education programmes.
The registrar said that with deliberate efforts and actions taken to integrate Arabic and Islamic education with modernity, there has been tremendous increase in school enrolment.
Mr Imam added that the feat was achieved through stakeholders’ engagement, virtual meetings, courtesy visits to some state governors and ministries of education across the country.
Speaking on coverage, the registrar said that NBAIS operates in 29 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He said NBAIS introduced a Special Programme for Huffaz (Qur’anic Tsangaya Tutors) known as Qur’anic School Integration Programme (QSIP).
Mr Imam added that the board also introduced entrepreneurship education subjects in the integrated Arabic and Islamic schools.
According to him, the board had also introduced Junior Arabic and Islamic Studies Certificate Examination (JAISCE) for accelerated basic education programmes.
To further promote and enhance Arabic language and integration of Islamic education, the registrar said NBAIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some key stakeholders.
The stakeholders included the Nigerian Arabic Language Village Ngala, Borno, Fountain University, Osun State, Borno Arabic and Tsangaya Education Board (BOSASEB) and Al-Amana Arabic &Islamic Board, Gambia.
Others were: Yobe Arabic and Islamic Education Board (YSAIEB), Institute of Education, ABU, Zaria and Tsangaya Education Board Duste, Jigawa, among numerous others.
On infrastructural development, Mr Imam said the board constructed and furnished a one-storey building complex at the Zaria Main Operation Centre and provided backup solar power for it.
He said that NBAIS constructed its zonal office in Ibadan, Minna and Gombe and rehabilitated and equipped its administrative building at the headquarters in Kaduna.
