Niger govt earmarks N125m for Almajiri Schools take-off

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

The Niger state government has earmarked N125 million for the successful take-off of the nine Almajiri Schools across the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Umar Abdulhameed who stated this in an interview in Minna yesterday, said the Emir of Suleja, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim’s who is the committee chairman on Almajiris had begun the compilation of the names of 840 pupils for the commencement of the programme.

He disclosed that the schools would be sited in Bida, Kontagora, Paiko, Suleja, Mokwa and Minna, the state capital where three of those schools are expected to be sited, “most of them had been completed and ready for use.

“The Federal Government had constructed most of the schools with boarding facilities and staff quarters for their teachers and the state government provided the structures to be used for some of the schools.

“We are grateful for the collaborative venture between us and the Federal Government as well as the cooperation of the present handlers of Almajiris in the state which critical to the success of the programme.

“The present government in the state is committed to ensuring all school age children attend school in line with its free education policy and for the future development of the children, through quality education”

Abdulhameed said the state government was also intervening in the running of 125 Quranic Integration Schools in the 25 local government councils in the state, by providing teachers for the basic subjects that would be taught in the schools.

He noted that graduate of these schools would be offered admission into public primary schools after three years of studying, while the Almajiris would run full steam primary education alongside primary education.