PROVISION OF FORMAL EDUCATION TO ALMAJIRIS: THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES

July edition PROVISION OF FORMAL EDUCATION TO ALMAJIRIS: THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES Ifijeh I. Goodluck James Iwu Juliana 0 0 Centre for Learning Resources, Covenant University , Ota , Ogun State Provision of formal education to Almajiris has become a subject of national discourse in Nigeria today. This paper examines the concept and plight of the almajiris. It identifies parental influence, infrastructural decay of Quranic schools, religious fanatism and poverty as causes of lack of formal education of almajiris. The study advocates that public and school libraries must begin to play relevant roles and contribute to the provision of formal education to almajiris. It outlines the roles public and school libraries must play in order to enhance almajiri education. In order to effectively play their roles, the study suggests that libraries should source for funds from external agencies rather than depend only on their parent institutions/organizations. Almajiri; Education; School libraries; Public libraries; Nigeria - Introduction Traditional Islamic education has a long history of existence in Nigeria. It started in the northern parts of the country, long before the advent of western education. It operated through the Quranic schools, whose main objective was to familiarize pupils with the tenets of the Quran and probably become lslamic scholars. The Quran has been the core-curriculum of this system of education since its inception because it plays a central role in the life of a muslim spiritually, politically, socially, economically and otherwise. Yahaya (2004) suggests that the problem of the Quranic School started with the colonial invasion of the northern parts of Nigeria, which led to the relegation of Islamic education to the background. According to him, this led to the gradual eroding of the lslamic educational system. Curriculum contents, teaching methods, teachers qualification, infrastructure and administration have been compromised, therefore the Quranic School has remained archaic (Yahaya, 2004). Consequently, the Amajiri (Quranic School pupil) is more of a social problem than a useful member of society. Almajiris are vulnerable to being used as political thugs by benefactors who take advantage of their lack of formal education. They are considered as great security risks as many of them have become miscreants who actively participate in ethnic, religious and political violence and terrorism (Christian, 2010) However, in recent times, the Federal Government of Nigeria is making attempts to integrate western education with Islamic education so as to transform the almajiris to functional members of society. In order to improve enrolment of almajiris in schools, the government has built ultramodern schools as well as declared free education across states where almajiris exist. However, just a little measure of success has been achieved. It is therefore high time libraries got involved in provision of formal education to almajiris. This paper examines the various roles public and school libraries could play in increasing enrolment of almajiris in schools as well as attaining their educational objectives. Historical Background Almajiri is a Hausa word meaning im-migrant children in search of Quranic education. The Quranic School is the pre-primary and the primary level of traditional Islamic education. It is an institution which has its origin traced to the prophetic period of Islamic education Historians have traced the almajiri system of education to the beginning of the 11th Century, largely promoted by leading lights of Islam who were determined to spread Islamic knowledge and learning, long before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of British Nigeria. The word Almajiri emanated from Arabic word AL-MUHAJIRIN which came as a result of Prophet Mohammeds migration from Mecca to Medina. From the Islamic perspective, the word was first used by the prophet Muhammad to indicate those of his companions (muhajirun) who migrated with him for the sake of Islam from Mecca to Medina. However, the name Muhajirun later came to refer to those knowledge seekers who move from one place to another in search of knowledge like the Quranic school teacher and his pupils. In a Hadith (sayings) of the prophet in the collection Al-Tirmidhi (1980), the Prophet is quoted to have said the search for knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim. The Hadith did not discriminate against age or status. In another Hadith collection by Walial-din (1977) (Mishkat al-masabih) the prophet said: go in search of knowledge even to china. The above Hadith shows that the search for knowledge knows no geographical, social or religious boundary. He said in another Hadith wisdom (knowledge) is the lost property of the believer wherever he sees it, he picks it up. These and many other similar Hadith propelled Muslims to go in search of knowledge. In Hausa land Almajiri refers to children sent from their homes and entrusted into the care of Islamic teachers to learn the Islamic studies.In Nigeria, the Almajiri system started in the 11th century, as a result of the involvement of Borno rulers in Quranic literacy. Seven hundred years later, the Sokoto Caliphate was founded principally through an Islamic revolution based on the teachings of the Holy Quran. These two empires run similar Quranic learning system which over time came to be known as the almajiri system. The Plight of the Almajiri Almajiri are found mostly in the Northern part of Nigeria. They are usually between the ages of seven to fifteen. Originally, the idea was for these children to be sent out from their homes to learn Quranic education in traditional way under the care of a Mallam. However, this system changed and the children are now left to wade about the streets, and beg for alms in order to sustain themselves and their mallams (Obioha, 2009; Thinkquest, 2010). They neither receive the Islamic education nor the western education. Almajiri practice leads to child abuse in the sense that the children are exposed to laborious work at tender age (between 6 to 17years), lack the necessities of life and plunged into poverty and its attendant evils and may not be trained in any skill. They are a common sight in the Northern states including Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Gombe, Kaduna, Jos and Sokoto. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Education in 2009, Kano State alone harbors 1.6 million Almajiris in some 26,000 madrassas. Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger and Borno states are home to approximately 1.1 million, 824,200, 580,000 and 389,000 Almajiri pupils respectively. They also have a large presence in neighboring West African countries like Mali, Togo, Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon. Trying to be precise, the Ministry of Education estimated that there were 9.5 million almajiri children in the northern part of the country in 2010. Over the past few decades, the system has been overwhelmed, neglecte (...truncated)