The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the Katsina State Government, has engaged 100 Almajiri school proprietors in a strategic effort to incorporate core subjects such as Mathematics and English Language into the Tsangaya education system.
The selected school heads were drawn from six local government areas: Rimi, Katsina, Mani, Baure, Kafur, and Kankara — and participated in a one-day capacity-building workshop held in Katsina. The initiative was implemented through the Katsina State Agency for Mass Education with technical and financial support from UNICEF.
Speaking during the workshop, Mutaka Mukhtar, an Education Specialist with UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, explained that the objective was to guide proprietors in developing actionable plans for embedding core academic subjects into their Qur’anic school curricula.
“At UNICEF, we believe every child has a right to education,” Mukhtar said. “We recognise the security challenges in Katsina, which continue to disrupt access to formal education. This intervention aims to ensure that children in Tsangaya schools are not left behind.”
He noted that the focus was not just on the number of participating schools but on selecting those with large student populations and willingness to implement meaningful educational changes. “Our goal is to help these children access basic quality education without disrupting the religious purpose of their schooling,” he added.
Mukhtar expressed hope that the Katsina State Government would continue to support the programme and sustain the initiative beyond the current phase.
One of the workshop facilitators, Professor Umar Alqali of the Faculty of Law at the University of Maiduguri, highlighted the scale of the challenge, pointing out that Katsina State has over 8,000 Tsangaya schools with an estimated 500,000 children enrolled.
“With such a significant population, it is unacceptable for these children to miss out on Western education, which is essential for navigating everyday life,” Prof Alqali said. “This integration process respects the schools’ core religious focus while equipping pupils with foundational academic knowledge.”
Also speaking at the event, UNICEF’s focal person at the Katsina State Agency for Mass Education, Abdulbaki Lawal-Lema, underscored the importance of the initiative, stressing that the world is increasingly moving toward knowledge and digital literacy.
“This phase of the programme targets six local government areas,” Lawal-Lema said. “We are educating 100 proprietors on the value of introducing core academic subjects into the Almajiri system to ensure their pupils are equipped for a changing world.”
