Your Name and Title: Nasir Baba, Lecturer
School or Organization Name: Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria
Co-Presenter Name(s):
Area of the World from Which You Will Present:Nigeria
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Researchers and policy makers working on EFA in the developing world
Short Session Description (one line): This presentation will offer a critical examination of the strategy favoured by UNICEF and the government of Nigeria of using traditional schools of Quranic education as sites for the delivery of basic education in Muslim populated areas of Northern Nigeria.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like): The Nigerian state admits that traditional schools of Quranic education that are very popular among Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria make the largest contribution to the pool of 'out-of-school' children in the country. According to official estimates, Quranic schools enroll nearly 10 million children many of whom are officially considered out-of-school since these schools of religious instruction are not linked or recognised by Nigeria's public school system. Since 2001, Nigeria in conjunction with UNICEF, has embarked on a strategy of convincing these schools and the Islamic clerics that own them to allow the teaching of basic elements of official elementary school curriculum to the religious students they enroll. To date, only a small percentage of the estimated 143, 000 Quranic schools has accepted to be part of this programme. The few researches that evaluated this synergy between the secular and the religious in the delivery of basic education have cited policy inconsistency, absence of logistical support, and local resistance among the several factors that militate its success. Based on available literature, this presentation will explore the opportunities that non-formal religious schools provide for advancing the goals of EFA. It will also stimulate discussion for possible cross-country comparisons of constraints that may frustrate this type of synergy, and the policy options/best practices that ensure children of religious communities are not left out of EFA.
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