The Need for Integration of Basic Education to the Tsangaya Qur’anic Centers

Abstract

The Traditional Qur’anic system of education has been the basis of ethical and educational instruction, to the Nigerian Muslim communities, hitherto British colonization in 1824. The history of Nigeria would hardly be complete without acknowledging the vital role played by the contact of Northern Nigeria with the Arab world. It is difficult to precisely say when Arabic Language came to Nigeria, but majority of researchers and scholars have agreed that the people of Nigeria, just like their counterparts in the West African sub region, came into contact with Arabic Language through commerce and trade routes., The Almajiris system of education has been in existence centuries prior to British colonizers, (11th century through Borno Empire) and it has been the source of moral and educational training to the offspring of the northern Muslim societies in Nigeria. Before the advent of the British colonial rule in the year 1824, every Muslim family send their children to day Qura’nic schools, known as makarantar allo meaning ‘the school of the slate’ in Malaysia, Indonesia and part of Thailand it is called the “Pondok” school (referring to an object made from wood). Children study the Qur’an from the comfort of their homes and go back when the school hour is over. While they stay with their parents receiving moral training and directions for further steps in life to be taken (Umar, 2006). Unfortunately, records show that things turned upside-down when the British forces took the control of the Tsangaya institutions from the traditional rulers (Maigari, 2017; Odumusu et al., 2013; National Council for the Welfare of the Destitute, 2001).