Reforming Almajiri Education With a Human Standard -By Ayisha Osori

Last month the police intercepted over a hundred boys travelling in trucks. They had not eaten in six days and the back-story was that they were traveling with the approval of their parents in search of knowledge. During the same period, governors of Northern states, chiefs and emirs met to lament the state of the North and the “widening gaps between the North and the rest of Nigeria in education, wealth creation, security and quality of life”. It is within this context that discussions about the reform of almajiri education (AE) should hold, not divorced from the history of formal education; high rates of poverty; abuse and the uneasy, often deadly co-existence of diverse groups who live in the North. Most importantly, we must address moral isolationists who argue that this system of education must not be measured against western standards, whatever that may be.

A good education should prepare one to strive until death to be better – it equips us to struggle with urges in an effort to tip the internal balance in favour of good and promotes the understanding that there is value in contributing money, time, resources and inventions to the common wealth. A sound education should create thinkers and dreamers who want to improve people, situations and things and citizens who question, reason and learn from experience.

Advocates of AE say it is adequate for its purpose: to worship Allah and gain admission into heaven, even if this means living with hunger and relying on the generosity of others. Traditionally, almajiri (from the word ‘al-muhajir’ (emigrant)) would travel in search of knowledge, nourished through the kindness of communities who left plates of food out for them. Communities are not as generous anymore.

This could be why sixty years after the admitted disadvantaged position of the North with regards to education; the same conversations are still taking place. While it might take reams of data to find the correlation between the quality and utility of the education millions receive and the state of the North today, there are a few things that could guide a practical review of AE.

Citizen Test

The 1999 Constitution requires electable officials to have at the minimum, a secondary school leaving certificate, which AE does not provide. Place this alongside Governor Sheriff’s disregard for negative media because his people cannot read and it is clear that informed citizens, alive to their rights and responsibilities, are not welcome. Even in Sharia proclaiming states, such as Katsina, the language of business in state assemblies is not Arabic or Hausa, it is English – a language foreign to graduates of AE. This blinds them to laws and signboards and prevents them from participating in discussions about governance without depending on the interpretation of a privileged few.

Curriculum Test

There is no standard curriculum for AE and no determined path that defines a minimum qualification – instead what is considered a basic minimum is to memorise and/or learn to read the Quran. Some teachers – depending on their interest and expertise – might, in addition, expose students to the Hadiths of Muslim, Al-Bukhari et al but it is entirely up to a student to fall out, drop out or say, ‘I know enough now’. Despite the immense contributions that scholars of Muslim faith have made to global knowledge in science, astrology and algebra, there is no AE curriculum that, as a matter of design, includes these subjects, and graduates with any knowledge in these areas are negligible.

Some of the fiercest advocates for AE take pains to explain that they are products of the system – only leaving for formal education at 11 or 13; successfully making the argument for a system which combines knowledge of Islam and knowledge of the world in which the students inhabit.

The Peace Be Upon You Test

In a popular hadith, a man offered his house for 100,000 dirhams and asked what the purchaser would add for the benefits of being the neighbour of Sa’id Ibn al-As, a devout Muslim. The North should be an oasis of peace because of the millions taught to care only about worshiping Allah. Instead, we have ignorance and intolerance of other religions and a barbarity towards human life that is unfathomable. Wahabisim is partly to blame, as Saudi Arabian petrodollars seep across the world corrupting formal and informal Islamic education with an intolerant ideology. The rest of the blame lies with the federal and state governments and advocates for an AE system free from reform, regulation and oversight.

At eight I was sufficiently inoculated with scepticism when my mallam declared it was a sin to draw pictures of living things and eat tinned food. Not as harmless when decades later my six-year-old returns from Islamiyya to ask if Christians are suitable friends. Thankfully he too is curious enough about what he hears to ask questions. Professor Tilde recently revealed that after a visit to Aso Rock, imams told adherents about meeting with an angel. Nigerians appear easy to infect with lies and propaganda, but we should question the ability of AE to provide some immunity to deliberate misinformation because of dangerous interpretations of Islam.

The AE curriculum should be standardised and taught only by licensed teachers screened for knowledge and known extremist interpretations. If policy makers in the North are not convinced of the value of a multilingual population and will not add English to AE curriculum, official communication in the North should be in English and Hausa – using ajami if this is still taught. Finally, a values reorientation exercise aimed at changing the culture towards education and Islamic instruction in the North is long overdue.

Moral isolationists tell us we cannot speak about cultures that are not ours – because we have no understanding. Mary Midgely in Trying Out One’s New Sword makes a convincing case for outsider’s speaking up. There is nothing western about wanting improvement and progress. A human standard is what is required to assess AE – nothing more.

Ayisha Osori is an ordinary citizen who writes from Abuja. The views in this article are personal and not attributable to any organisation the author is affiliated with.