….As NBAIS Holds One-Day Stakeholders Sensitization Meeting
Yahaya Idris, Kano
Kano State Government reaffirms its commitment to integrating Arabic and Islamic Education into conventional education to strengthen its system.
Kano State Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa, stated at the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies’ one-day stakeholders’ sensitization meeting in Kano that the administration of Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf faced significant challenges in Qur’anic and Islamiyya Education upon taking office.
A press release dated November 14, 2024, issued Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru, Director of Public Enlightenment, Ministry of Education, Kano State, revealed that Doguwa was represented by Permanent Secretary Alhaji Bashir Baffa Muhammad, who announced that the Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf administration has settled more than 70% of the 2023/2024 examination fees for NBAIS SIS/SAS final year students, addressing legacy challenges from the prior administration.
” Not only that, this government had recruited more teaching staff and sent them to many Arabic and Islamic Secondary schools under Arabic and Islamic Education Department that lacks enough manpower. In fact, there is no any state in Nigeria that is having more Arabic teachers like Kano ” he said.
He stated that NBAIS schools in the state had been granted the opportunity to incorporate Art and Commercial subjects into their curriculum, integrating them into mainstream education, while also highlighting plans to introduce science subjects and ensure seamless admission for NBAIS students into any Nigerian university.
The Commissioner said… ” a memorandum of understanding was reached with the Egyptian government in which they agreed to give AIED five (5) Arabic teaching staff three of whom were already with us and started discharging their primary assignment and we are still anticipating the arrival of another batch of seven Arabic teachers all from the same country to complement our effort of strengthening teaching of Arabic and Islamic education.
“Just recently , Kano state government under the leadership of Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf had secured admission vacancies for fifty students and awarded them scholarship to study at AZHAR University, Egypt- Cairo in order to boost Arabic and Islamic Education in the state “.
Alhaji Umar Doguwa praised the NBAIS program as a vital conduit for moral guidance, encouraging participants to propose actionable recommendations that could support government efforts to refine the system.
In his keynote address, Professor Isah Yusuf Chamo, Jigawa State Commissioner of Education, represented by Dr. Mubarak Abdulwahab, announced the state’s prioritization of Arabic and Islamic schools via enhanced learning environments.
He said that Jigawa state has set up the Tsangaya Education Board, headed by an Executive Secretary and advised by representatives from the state’s three senatorial zones.
” Presently, Jigawa is constructing three mega Tsangaya schools across the three senatorial zones and spent over N1.5 billion on this project” he disclosed.
The Kano State Governor’s Special Adviser on Education, Hon. Tajuddeen Gambo, announced the establishment of a committee focused on voluntary schools, mandated to develop novel approaches for upgrading these schools statewide, revealing that Arabic and Islamiyya Schools constitute 95% of these institutions.
Tajuddeen Gambo stated that the Kano State Government has initiated the integration of Qur’anic and Islamiyya Schools into the conventional education system through the Qur’anic and Islamiyya Schools Management Board, with a committee established to ensure the program’s successful implementation.
Earliest, Professor Y. S Imam, registrar of the National Board For Arabic and Islamic Studies, stated that the meeting’s purpose was to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders on NBAIS’s contribution to integrating Qur’anic and Tsangaya education into the traditional education system.
Dr. Muhammad Mujtaba Abdulkadir presented potential solutions to reduce Almajiri begging through entrepreneurship and local business at a sensitization meeting on NBAIS’ role in integrating the Tsangaya/Zaure education system.
Notable speakers at the sensitization program included Dr. Kabir Ado Zakirai, Executive Secretary of the Kano Senior Secondary Schools Management Board, and Alhaji Surajo, Acting Executive Secretary of the State Agency for Mass Education.
Participants expressed their expectations at the end of the one-day stakeholders’ sensitization and interactive meeting.
