Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has laid the foundation for the construction of Tsangaya Mega School under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme in the state.
The Almajiri MEGA school at Tsangayar Goni Sani (University Almajirai), is one of the largest Tsangaya schools in West Africa, some call it University of Harji.
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Laying the foundation on Thursday, Governor Yahaya reiterated the commitment of his administration to transforming Tsangaya education in the State. Immediately after the ceremony, the governor held an interactive session with traditional Qur’anic School Teachers in Gombe State.
The theme of the interactive session is “Towards transforming Tsangaya system to the needs of the 21st century”.
Governor Yahaya said the aim of the session is to equip the Tsangaya teachers to improve their skills in order to meet the needs of teaching in the 21st century as part of efforts to transform the system.
He reiterated the commitment of his administration to transforming the education sector in the state, and commended the successes recorded under BESDA programme.
He said “under the BESDA programme, 676 learning centers for boys and girls pupils were established, 170,000 pupils and girl-child enrolled in the centers and 1600 NCE teachers were employed to teach western education in the state and 15,000 thousand tsangaya School proprietors receive allowances and government is working to improve the allowances of the Alarammas”
The governor commended traditional Qur’anic School owners for their support to the programme, adding that many Islamic countries countries came up with policies that eased the learning process in Tsangaya schools, with students learning both Western and Islamic education.
Governor Yahaya said “We value and cherish the fact that the traditional Tsangaya education is the oldest but because of modernisation we have to do our best to improve them to attain the highest standard.”
Governor said in the new schools, the pupils and students, apart from learning Quranic memorization, will be taught English and arithmetic to learn Western education.
The Governor recalled that “UNICEF said we have out of school children, but I said their number is higher than that because there are areas they didn’t visit…”
He called on traditional community and religious leaders, parents, pupils and the society in order to succeed.
Mrs Amina Buba Haruna, coordinator BESDA, at the Federal Ministry of Education, commended the Gombe State government for transforming the almajiri system by giving it special recognition and change their status through BESDA programmers.
She said “Almajiri are our children; we need to support them interact, with them and help them to get brighter future.
Guest Speaker at the occasion Professor Bashir Galadanchi urged Tsangaya school owners to continue to embrace government policies and programmes aimed at developing the skills and capacity of their pupils towards improvement of standard of living.
Professor Bashir advised Qur’anic teachers and pupils to learn the skills they need to succeed in tomorrow’s competitive world by rethinking yesterday’s teaching practices.
The scholar urged government and the society to support Quranic schools to enable them excel in today’s society, even as he urged government to provide social amenities to its citizenry.
Gombe State Project Coordinator of BESDA Dr Abdullahi Bappah Ahmed Garkuwa commended Governor Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya for his support towards the development of education in the state.
Dr Garkuwa advised participants to cooperate more with laudable programmes of BESDA to improve the education of their children.
Dr Garkuwa stressed the importance of seeking for Quranic education and urged the Tsangaya school proprietors to embrace all educational programmes that come for the development of society.
He said Western education introduced in schools under BESDA programmes are aimed at providing technical and skilled knowledge that will improve the living standard of the society.
