The Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Doguwa, stated this at a one-day stakeholders sensitization and interactive meeting organized by the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) in Kano on Friday.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Bashir Muhammad, Doguwa  explained that the state government would continue to strengthen its system of Arabic and Islamic education through full integration into conventional education.

The commissioner, who described the NBAIS programme as the central area of impacting moral training to the youth, urged the participants to come up with fruitful ideas that would help the government in improving the system.

Doguwa disclosed that Gov. Abba Kabir-Yusuf  had settled over 70 percent of 2023/2024 examination fees of School for Islamic Studies (SIS) and School for Arabic Studies (SAS) final year students to NBAIS inherited from the previous administration.

“Not only that, this government has recruited more teaching staff and sent them to many Arabic and Islamic Secondary schools under the Arabic and Islamic Education Department that lack enough manpower.

“Infact, there is no state in Nigeria that is having more Arabic teachers like Kano, ” he said.

He hinted that NBAIS Schools in the state were provided with the opportunity to have in their curriculum Art and Commercial subjects and also be integrated into conventional systems of education.

Doguwa said that plans were also under way to introduce science subjects into their curriculum and make sure that NBAIS students could obtain admission at any University in Nigeria.

“A memorandum of understanding was reached with the Egyptian Government in which they agreed to give five Arabic teaching staff three of whom were already with us and started discharging their primary assignment.

“We are still anticipating the arrival of another batch of seven Arabic teachers all from the same country to complement our effort of strengthening teaching of Arabic and Islamic education,” he said.

Also speaking, the Jigawa State Commissioner of Education, Prof. Isah Chamo, said that the state too was giving priority to Arabic and Islamic schools by ensuring a conducive learning environment.

He said Jigawa state had established the Tsangaya Education Board with Executive Secretary and Special Advisers representing three senatorial zones of the state.

“Presently, Jigawa is constructing three mega Tsangaya schools across the three senatorial zones and spent over N1.5 billion on this project” he disclosed.

The Special Adviser to Kano State Governor on education, Tajuddeen Gambo, maintained that the state had also set up a committee on voluntary schools which was given the mandate to come up with new ways of improving voluntary schools across the state.

Gambo pointed out that 95 per cent of these schools came from Arabic and Islamiyya Schools.

He explained that already the Kano State Government began the integration exercise of Qur’anic and Islamiyya Schools into the conventional system of education under the Qur’anic and Islamiyya Schools Management Board, adding that a committee was set up to ensure success of the programme.

The registrar of NBAIS, Prof Yahuza Imam, said that the meeting was aimed at bringing the stakeholders together to brainstorm on the role of NBAIS in the integration of Qur’anic and Tsangaya education into the conventional system of education.

Imam, who outlined possible solutions to minimise begging associated with the Almajiri system through entrepreneurship and local business, emphasized the board’s commitment to enhancing service delivery. (NAN)