By Yusuf Bello
Parents who enrol their children into the Almajiri education system risk prosecution and up to two-year jail term in Kaduna state.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i made the declaration on Monday.
The governor gave the warning when he visited about 200 Almajirai repatriated from Nasarawa State undergoing rehabilitation at the Government College, Kurmin Mashi, Kaduna.
He said any Islamic cleric who enrolls any child into the Almajiri system would also be prosecuted, jailed and fined N100,000 or N200,000 per child.
According to El-Rufai, the state has a responsibility to give the Almajirai hope and a better future.
“We will, therefore, continue to take delivery of every Almajiri pupil indigenous to Kaduna for rehabilitation, treatment and enrollment into formal school nearest to where their parents live.
“We will continue to do this until we clear Kaduna of the menace of the Almajiri system, which is not education but the abuse of the privilege and future of a child.
“Our ultimate goal is for them to acquire formal education without depriving them of the opportunity to acquire Quranic education.
“They will continue their Quranic education but under the care of their parents and not under someone who does not know them or paid to look after them,” El-Rufai said.
