Bauchi State government on Wednesday inaugurated a technical committee on Tsangaya and Islamiyya schools to improve the quality of education.
In a speech during the event in Bauchi, the Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the committee is expected to incorporate western education into Islamiyya and Tsangaya (non-formal education) as a step towards providing quality education to every citizen of the state.
“It is also to ensure proper implementation of all the guidelines on the integration of western education into the curriculum of non-formal education, incorporated and adopted as agreed upon,” he said.
Lawal also said the committee is in line with the federal government’s new established structure for the integration of non-formal to formal education policy.
“We want to address the issue of out-of-school children and this idea came as a result of a roundtable meeting, so as to see how we can work together and find a lasting solution to the issue,’’ he said.
He said when fully integrated, Islamiyya and Tsangaya schools would operate with the new curriculum.
He said the committee would also ensure that the ministry has accurate data of pupils in schools annually.
Lawal urged parents to take advantage of government’s huge investment to send their children to school.
Also, the Chairman, House Committee on Education in the state Assembly, Mr Nasir Ala, said setting up a committee would help to develop the state’s education sector.
“I felt overwhelmed because on November 18, 2024, I presented a motion on the floor of the House, urging the executive to remodel Quranic and Tsangaya schools, as well as integrate foundation literacy.
“North Africa has accepted Islamic education, until recently, Nigeria was yet to accommodate Tsangaya and Quranic schools model in our Western educational system.
“This has created a misconception that Quranic and Tsangaya pupils are out-of-school children and this is because they are not formally recognised,’’ Ala said. (NAN)
