The Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to upgrade the existing almajiri model schools and build more to increase the number of school enrolment.
This is in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children on the streets.
The call was sequel to a point of order moved by Sen. Adamu Aliero (APC-Kebbi) during plenary.
The motion was entitled: “The need to Integrate Almajiri Education into Modern System of Education in Nigeria as a matter of Urgent National Importance”.
The Senate also mandated its committee on Basic and Secondary Education to come up with ways and means of collaborating with state governments on how to get the 14 million children that were currently out of school enrolled in basic and secondary education programme.
Aliero while raising order 42 and 52 noted that over the years the Federal Government had made commendable efforts to reduce the menace of street begging by introducing Universal Primary Education (UPE) Scheme 1976 and re-introduced Universal Basic Education (UBE) in September 1999.
He noted that the Almajiri was one of the persons covered by the UBE Act 2004 for the purpose of provision of basic education.
“The UBE Act 2004, Part 1 section 2 (1) states that “Every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age”, he said.
He said that based on UNICEF findings, there were more than 14 million out of school children most of them being almajiri roaming the streets of major cities in Nigeria begging for alms and food.
“The past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan embarked on laudable project by building boarding almajiri integrated model schools in which these children are enrolled and given both Islamic and western education, inaugurated in Sokoto,” he said.
Aliero, however, expressed worry that some of the structures were either laying fallow or put into uses other than what they were originally intended for.
“Some of the facilities in the almajiri model schools are already decaying as they have never been put to use.
“Two weeks ago, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano announced the ban on street begging in the state and launched the Basic Education Service Delivery for All.
“The new policy prohibits street begging and will penalise the parents or guardians of children caught begging on the streets,” he said.
He further said that in spite of government’s efforts at integrating the almajiri into modern education system, the implementation of the policy had not achieved the desired result.
Supporting the motion, Deputy Chief Whip, Sabi Abdullahi said that the issue of almajiri was situated in the legislative agenda of the 9th Senate.
He noted that most of the out of school children in the north were the almajiri, saying that this was an abuse of the right of these children.
“With the spate of kidnappings, many of them are products of the almajiri system,” he said.
Abdullahi called for collaborative effort between the executive and the legislature to tackle the problem as a national menace.
In his remarks, President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan said that out-of-school children were big social, economic and security problems to an extent.
He called on parents to ensure such children were enrolled in schools to better the society.(NAN)
