The federal government said Almajiri has become a big menace with over 50 million of them belonging to over 2, 000 associations.
Dr Muhammad Idris, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE) said this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at the inauguration of an eight-man committee to reform the Almajiri education.
Idris said the vulnerable group who are in the business of alms begging with no western education has over 20m out-of-school children in their midst.
He lamented the troubling situation calling for an end to it.
According to him: “With the emergence of social vices, a lot of people are taking advantage of the vulnerability of Almajiri children.
“It is no longer acceptable that people will give birth to children and throw them into the streets for begging. This is about Nigeria and not a segment of the society.
“Almajiri now has various leadership bodies with over 2,000 associations, and it became difficult for the government to harness them.
“So, the government felt there was a need to look at this with the view to give them modern pedagogy.
“We must put all hands on deck to address this part of education that has been neglected for some time.”
Idris went on to task the committee to bring the various Almajiri groups under one umbrella in such a way that responsible scholars would emerge among them.
