The Presidency on Friday dismissed media report that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to ban the Almajiri system of education.
The Almajiri system of education is a form of Qur’anic learning system associated with begging on economic and religious grounds peculiar to some Northern states.
Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja, however, said that the prescription of the Almajiri system had remained an objective of the Buhari administration.
He said that the Presidency, calls for caution in responses to the pronouncements by President Muhammadu Buhari on free and compulsory basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria, during his speech on Thursday, June 20, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
”The Presidency notes that while the Buhari administration is committed to free and compulsory education as a long-term objective of bringing to an end, the phenomenon of out-of-school children, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities”, he added.
The presidential aide, frowned at reports that there were plans for massive arrest of parents who denied their children basic education, saying that such reports were definitely out of place.
However , many said in their views that the Almajiri phenomenon represents a security challenge and a scar on the face of Northern Nigeria.
(NAN)