Almajiri School: A shadow of its former self?

By Binta Muhammad Saidu

Almajiri school system of education in those days was a thing of great ac However, this education system as practiced today in the Northern part of the country precisely is a completely bastardized system, compared to the form and conditions under which the system was operating and its outputs during the pre-colonial era.
It has been forced, and adulterated to its present pitiful state.

During the pre-colonial era, begging and loitering around was never involved and certainly the “Almajiris” (school Pupils) were not reduced to doing menial jobs before they could eat. The predicament of the Almajiri system today is to an extent as a result of the emergence of the western education, with the coming of this, the Almajiris and the mallams (instructors) had no financial support from the government which made them resort to begging and other menial jobs for survival.

Why the Almajiri pupils Beg?
The cause of this ‘’Almajaranci’’ (begging) is as a result of negligence on the part of the parents. Child neglect is more than bruises or broken bones. The parents have abdicated their obligations by not taking proper care of their wards and educating their children.
Parents especially in the Northern part of this country are fond of abusing children by neglecting their primary responsibilities and this results to several parental problems as the case may be. Resultant instances of this may include: poverty, unplanned pregnancy, single parenting and what have you.

However, with this problems that parents face, they seize to use the opportunity of sending their children to other parts’ of the north in the name of acquiring Qur’anic knowledge where they are fully aware that these children are helpless yet S/he is left alone in no man’s land and therefore, they resort to menial jobs or begging precisely courtesy of parents. All these and many other similar features make
the parents the core inventor and sponsor of the Almajiri system in our dear country.

The teachers (mallams) encourages begging
The system of these Qur’anic learning as it is presently being practiced has outlived its usefulness. The teachers that are left to be running such schools are actually not competent nor intelligent, instructors/teachers(mallams)and the standards are very low because of this semi-illiterate Qur’anic Mallams, who uses the system as a means of survival rather than the normal faith.

They encourage the students (almajiris) in struggling to cater for themselves and also to support the mallams. By so doing, it takes most of their time rather than engaging themselves in learning. The children are now scattered in
almost all the nooks and corners of the northern part of the country, spreading immorality that they may have learnt from peer group while roaming about begging. While in a chat with one mallam in one of these schools, who does not want any of his identities disclosed, revealed that it is actually disheartening how the pupils are being treated by both parents and some mallams. Even though, he also passed through the same channel, he insisted that it makes the student to realize themselves because even if the pupil ends up not learning the Quran, most of them find their destiny from there, adding that the whole process teaches them patience and perseverance at the end.

You can now imagine how this all starts. And this is from where most of them end up in some inhumane hands putting them through some menial jobs before they could pay them stipend or give to them some left over foods to feed on. Investigations revealed that most of our universities like the foremost northern universities in Nigeria: ABU Zaria, Bayaro University Kano and the likes encourage child labour. The young stewards popularly called Almajiri (yaro Boys) stay at the campus gate in order to help in carrying luggage for students and staff of the institution.

However, it is pertinent to note the fact that in those days the Almajiri that is, the pupils were never beggars. The name Almajiri was literally used to refer to students generally. Where the pupil or student goes to acquire the Quranic Knowledge from it Phonetic forms as in other languages of the world until when the child feels tired or okay rather. Unlike what we have today the school pupil goes to school and pick up dishes and plates roving around streets begging for foods and money every where all the times there by making it look like an occupation.

Why can’t parents have a rethink about this attitude? The said system of learning the Quran is turned into something else by our mallams and parents as well, Why?
Saidu, is 300 level student of the Department of Mass Communication, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai, Niger State.