Share!
Kaduna State Government has warned that parents who enroll their children into the Almajiri education system risk facing prosecution and jail term of up to two years.
The state governor, Nasir El-Rufai made the disclosure on Monday when he visited about 200 Almajirai repatriated from Nasarawa State undergoing rehabilitation at the Government College, Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna.
The Islamic Clerics were not spared as El-Rufai stated that they also would be prosecuted and jailed as well as fined N100,000 or N200,000 per child if found guilty of enrolling any child into the Almajiri system.
He said it was the responsibility of the state to give the Almajirai kids hope and a better future.
The governor stated: “We will, therefore, continue to take delivery of every Almajiri pupil indigenous to Kaduna for rehabilitation, treatment and enrollment into formal school nearest to where their parents live.
“We will continue to do this until we clear Kaduna of the menace of the Almajiri system, which is not education but the abuse of the privilege and future of a child.
“Our ultimate goal is for them to acquire formal education without depriving them of the opportunity to acquire Quranic education.
“They will continue their Quranic education but under the care of their parents and not under someone who does not know them or paid to look after them.”
El-Rufai said he was pleased that all the 218 Almajirai who were repatriated to Kaduna tested negative for coronavirus, adding that, “with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria, AMA Foundation, other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and philanthropists, they are being restored full human rights as children, dignity and hope!”
“Every child in Kaduna has equal opportunity and access to 12 years of free and compulsory education in our public schools,” he said.
“Those that cannot proceed to senior secondary school will have the opportunity to go to vocational school, also free. As such, no parent has any excuse for his child not to go to school.”
The governor therefore thanked other state agencies, UNICEF, AMA foundation, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil societies for their support.
