The Katsina State Government has registered 25,922 Almajiri pupils across the state and also identified and integrated about 255 Qur’anic schools from 2019 to date.
The Executive Chairman (EC), of the state’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Lawal Buhari, made this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Katsina.
Buhari added that 540 facilitators and mentors were also identified and trained, saying the achievement was recorded through the intervention of the Basic Education Services Delivery for All (BESDA).
According to him, the registration and integration are with a view to repositioning the system to enable them to learn Western Education in addition to their Islamic Education.
He further revealed that the state government through the intervention, within the period under review has spent 21million dollars.
Buhari explained that BESDA is a World Bank intervention programme geared toward supporting states with the highest number of Out-of-School Children.
He noted that the BESDA intervenes in three key areas; equitable access to education, improving literacy and system strengthening.
“Katsina State has the highest number of out-of-school children of about 1,135,000 which comprises almajiris, nomads, IDPs and vulnerable children.
“The implementation of the programme started in 2019 with the selection of 22 local government areas across the state for the reduction of Out- Of-School Children.
“Also, 13 LGAs for intensive literacy programme using RANA and Jolly Phonics Models. From 2019 to date, 255 Qur’anic Learning Centres were integrated under the programme.
“The programme has succeeded in the reduction of 361,525 out-of-school children, representing 36 per cent of the set target in the selected LGAs in the state.
The EC added that the BESDA programme will wind up in Oct. 2022, therefore appealed to the World Bank through the Federal Government to extend the programme beyond that period.
He commended Gov. Aminu Masari, for developing the basic education sector in the state.
