By Khalid Idris Doya
Bauchi, Nigeria, May 20, 2026(Series News Online)-The Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation has urged the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, NCAOOSCE, to involve experienced, community-based stakeholders in all programmes and strategies designed to reform the Almajiri education system in Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Bauchi, the Foundation’s Director of Media and Publicity, Mallam Ahmad Muhammad, said the lasting success of interventions for Almajiri and out-of-school children hinges not only on policy design but also on robust collaboration with trusted grassroots institutions already working within affected communities.
The Foundation expressed concern over what it described as the sidelining of key stakeholders with practical knowledge and direct engagement in the Almajiri system, alleging that individuals with minimal or no ties to the Tsangaya educational structure are often incorporated into the Commission’s activities.
According to the statement titled “Sustainable Almajiri Reforms Require Community-Rooted Implementation Structures,” the Foundation clarified that its position was not to assign blame but to highlight the need for broader and more inclusive participation to secure tangible outcomes.
“The Almajiri and out-of-school children crisis remains a deeply social and community-based challenge that extends beyond administrative policies alone,” the statement read.
It maintained that reforms can only achieve implementation, acceptance, continuity, and sustainability when institutions with grassroots legitimacy and direct operational experience are actively involved.
The Foundation noted that while recent national engagements on Almajiri and out-of-school children reforms have assembled political, administrative, developmental, and community actors, there remains a pressing need for stronger institutional inclusion of long-standing grassroots educational structures operating within the Almajiri and Tsangaya ecosystem.
It warned that reform efforts could encounter implementation obstacles if strategic frameworks are developed without sufficient consultation with institutions that have longstanding operational presence, established community trust, and practical experience in affected communities.
“Decades of engagement within the Tsangaya, Almajiri, and broader out-of-school children ecosystem across Northern Nigeria have shown that reforms detached from existing community realities often struggle with long-term acceptance and implementation at the grassroots level,” the Foundation stated.
“With an extensive network of over 800 Tsangaya institutions and affiliated schools currently serving more than 300,000 students nationwide, practical and community-rooted educational models remain critical to addressing both the Almajiri phenomenon and the wider out-of-school children challenge in a sustainable manner,” it said.
The Foundation also underscored the value of integrated educational approaches that merge Qur’anic education, formal learning, moral development, and social stability within a single framework, noting that such models continue to offer socially accepted alternatives in affected communities.
Mallam Ahmad Muhammad disclosed that the concerns were formally communicated by the Foundation’s Chairman, Khalifa Sayyadi Ibrahim Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, in a letter addressed to the Commission and copied to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser.
The Foundation restated its support for the Commission’s ongoing efforts while emphasizing the necessity of deeper institutional collaboration with longstanding community-based educational structures.
“From our standpoint as an institution that has remained directly engaged within the realities of the Almajiri and Tsangaya ecosystem for decades, we believe the broader national conversation must now move beyond recognition of the challenge alone toward building stronger implementation relationships with trusted grassroots structures already operating within the sector,” the statement added.
It insisted that any reform framework intended to succeed in the sector must acknowledge institutions already accepted by the people and actively working within the system.
“The realities surrounding the Almajiri and Tsangaya ecosystem cannot be effectively addressed in isolation from the communities, structures, and longstanding institutions that have continued to operate directly within that reality for decades,” the Foundation stated.
The Foundation concluded that stronger alignment between national reform initiatives and trusted grassroots structures would substantially enhance implementation, continuity, acceptance, and long-term sustainability of reforms within the sector.
“As conversations surrounding Almajiri and out-of-school children reforms continue nationally, meaningful institutional inclusion, practical engagement, and community-rooted collaboration will remain essential to achieving lasting impact,” the statement said.
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