The Sokoto State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jabbi Kilgori, says the government is incorporating 4,000 Quranic schools in the state into formal education system to boost enrolment.

Mr. Kilgori said on Sunday when he inspected one of the Qur’anic schools in Takatuku, Bodinga Local Government, that a committee of traditional rulers headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, had been inaugurated for the project.

He said that the committee would coordinate the programme and ensure enrolment into the schools which would now teach Qur’an and western education.

The commissioner said that the programme, supported by UNICEF, was designed to tackle the low enrolment of pupils across the state due to social, cultural and economic challenges.

Mr. Kilgori noted that the administration’s declaration of a state of emergency in education was yielding positive impact in the area of infrastructure, teacher recruitment and other interventions.

He said that teachers were being deployed to schools in their own communities to tackle problem of absenteeism.

The commissioner added that the government had provided structures for expansion of the selected integrated schools, which would combine Islamic education with modern primary education subjects.

Earlier, Head Teacher of the school, Sa’idu Nata’ala, said the school has 64 students aged between six and 12 receiving normal Qur’anic lessons and on modern subjects under the integrated school system.

He told the commissioner that UNICEF had provided instructional materials to the school, to support the programme.

Mr. Nata’ala however complained of lack space to expand the school, stressing that they require additional structures and materials, including temporary shades to accommodate more students.

(NAN)