The Jigawa State gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 elections, Mustapha Sule Lamido, has fashioned out a novel Almajiri model of education for the state if elected governor.
The candidate, who announced this in an article: My Vision For Jigawa State (IV), said his model would be an enhancement of the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan model, which was piloted by Sokoto State.
Lamido said his model would also substantially take after the Malaysian model which, he observed, has been working excellently for the Asian country.
He said he would, first, take an inventory of all Almajiri schools and Tsangayas and have a census of the students and teachers, known as alarammas.
Explaining further, Lamido said he would then form a technical committee comprising the alarammas, State Ministry of Education officials and experts to be charged with the responsibility of producing a sound and sustainable policy for the Tsangaya system.
“Already, we have some existing ideas and structures developed by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan which states like Sokoto have built upon,” he observed.
“Internationally, I have personally studied the Malaysian remodeled Almajiri system which has been working excellently; we also have some remodeled systems in some parts of West Africa,” Lamido said.
“I will feed the policy formulation committee with some of these findings, so that our aim of having a reformed, rebranded, working and sustainable Almajiri system can be achieved,” he said.
Lamido also assured that teachers’ welfare would be top-most priority of his administration, adding that his government, if elected, would improve the condition of service of the workers in the education sector.
“We will study and review the teachers salaries with the hope of increasing it to the highest amount possible and permissible by the economic situation.
“God willing, we will create allowances to motivate them and create a reward system to appreciate the best and most dedicated teachers in the state.
“We will train and retrain them to further their education while making the necessary learning tools and equipment available for their utilization Insha Allah. We shall create an avenue for periodic teacher-government engagement where operational successes and challenges of education will be discussed.
“We will use information in such engagements to take swift action where necessary and make adequate plans where applicable,” he promised.
