North-East Governors Plan Offices to Tackle Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Crisis

 The North-East Governors’ Forum announced on April 30, 2025, in Maiduguri, plans to establish dedicated offices across Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, and Taraba to address the region’s 3.6 million out-of-school children, including 1.5 million Almajiri. 

The initiative, unveiled at a regional education summit, aims to integrate these children into formal schooling, reducing vulnerability to insurgency and poverty. Each state will allocate N500 million annually to fund vocational training, feeding programs, and teacher recruitment, targeting 500,000 enrollments by 2027.

The Almajiri system, rooted in Islamic education, has left 70% of its pupils illiterate, with 80% engaged in street begging, per UNESCO data. The region’s 20% primary school attendance rate, compared to Nigeria’s 68% national average, reflects decades of underfunding and Boko Haram’s disruption, which displaced 2 million children since 2014. 

The offices will coordinate with federal agencies like the Universal Basic Education Commission, which provided N10 billion in 2024 for 100 model Almajiri schools. Governors, led by Borno’s Babagana Zulum, emphasized community engagement, with 1,000 clerics trained to blend Quranic and secular curricula.

Challenges include 30% parental resistance to formal education and 15,000 teacher shortages across the region. The plan includes 50,000 scholarships and 200 new schools, but 40% of existing facilities lack basic amenities like desks or toilets. The governors also seek private-sector partnerships, with $50 million pledged by local NGOs. The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s 2023 Education Act, mandating free basic education, but requires 10% of state budgets to succeed, up from the current 6%. If effective, the offices could cut the region’s 50% poverty rate and bolster security, but sustained funding and political will remain critical.