Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i has warned that any parent or Islamic cleric who enroll children into the Almajiri system of education stand the risk of prosecution and jail.
The governor warned that every child in the state must be enrolled in formal basic education.
He gave these warnings on Monday when he visited 200 Almajiri children repatriated from Nasarawa State, who are undergoing rehabilitation and optical screening at Government College, Kurmin Mashi in the state.
El-Rufai said further that the Almajiri system of education has been banned in Kaduna State and any Islamic cleric caught operating such schools will be also jailed for not less than two years.
The ultimate goal of the Kaduna State government, he added, is to transform the Almajiri children from a state of hopelessness to hope and confidence.
“We will, therefore, continue to take delivery of every Almajiri pupil indigenous to Kaduna state for rehabilitation, treatment and enrollment into formal school nearest to where their parents live.
“We will continue to do this until we clear Kaduna state 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,” he said.
The governor, therefore warned that any Islamic cleric or parent who enrolls any child into the Almajiri system will be prosecuted and jailed as well as fined between N100,000 or N200,000 per child.
