The Kebbi State Government, through the Ministry of Religious Affairs, has commenced a comprehensive census of Almajiri schools across the state.
The development is aimed at identifying the parents, origins, locations, as well as the number and age of pupils in the schools.
The goal is to find a lasting solution to challenges within the educational system.
Muhammad Sani Aliyu, the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, disclosed this during a ministerial briefing organized by the Ministry of Information and Culture in Birnin Kebbi.
Aliyu stated that the Ministry is diligently working to develop strategies that will integrate the Almajiri system of education with secular education in order to contribute to the overall development of society.
The religious affairs commissioner pointed out that the current state of Almajiri education, where children below the age of five are sent to schools without adequate means of sustenance, often leading them to beg for survival, contradicts the teachings of Islam.
He stated the Ministry’s commitment to rectifying this issue, stating that moving forward, the ministry intends to regulate the conduct of Almajiri training, streamline the concept of Almajiri education, and improve the Almajiri system of education to address the negative consequences associated with some Almajiri children, who often end up in activities such as political thuggery and drug addiction.
Aliyu further revealed that the ministry’s Zakat Department had treated 23,542 psychiatric-related cases free of charge between May 2023 and March 2024.
This treatment was part of the Neuro Psychiatric Programme Outreach conducted on Saturdays and Sundays at the Zauro General Hospital, located on the outskirts of Birnin Kebbi.
Medical personnel from the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital and Usumanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital, both in Sokoto, provided care to patients from Kebbi State, neighboring states, as well as Benin and Niger Republics.
