The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has announced a ban on street begging by children also known as Almajiris.
Abba Anwar, Ganduje’s spokesman, disclosed this in a statement issued to Okay.ng on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the effort was to fully consolidate the free and compulsory primary and secondary schools education in the state.
Anwar noted in the statement that the decision was meant to integrate the Almajiri system into the policy and address the lingering problem of street begging.
Ganduje warned that Almajiri teachers must accept the new approach put in place by the state government.
The statement said: “If almijiri teacher thinks he cannot accept the new policy he has to leave the state.
“When Almajiri are caught begging, it is not only that beggar is caught, but his parents or guardians. Such parents or guardians would be taken to court to face the wrath of the law.”
According to the statement, the governor announced the decision during the launching of Basic Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) and Distribution of Offer of Appointment to 7,500 volunteer teachers, held at Sani Abacha Stadium.
“This policy of free and compulsory basic and secondary education goes along with its integration of our Almajiri system into the mainstream policy implementation. This suggests that English and Arithmetic must be included in the Almajiri schools curriculum,” the governor said.
This, according to him, will give those children other types of education, while they will continue acquiring their knowledge of the Holy Qur’an.
“That will give them an opportunity to continue with their studies to secondary schools and beyond,” the governor highlighted.
At the event, 7,500 newly recruited teacher volunteers under the BESDA programme were given letters of appointment.
“They will be posted to Islamiyyah and Almajiri schools, so that our Almajiri schools would be fully integrated under our new policy of education,” the statement added.
