The Kano State Government has secured admission and awarded scholarships to 50 students to study at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.
The initiative aims to bolster Arabic and Islamic education in the state, according to the Commissioner of Education, Umar Doguwa.
Speaking during a one-day stakeholders’ sensitization and interactive meeting organized by the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) in Kano, Doguwa, represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Bashir Muhammad, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to integrating Arabic and Islamic education into the conventional education system.
“The NBAIS programme is central to imparting moral training to the youth. We urge stakeholders to come up with ideas that can help improve the system,” Doguwa said.
He also disclosed that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had settled over 70% of the 2023/2024 examination fees for final-year students at the School for Islamic Studies (SIS) and the School for Arabic Studies (SAS), a debt inherited from the previous administration.
“Additionally, this administration has recruited more teaching staff and deployed them to Arabic and Islamic secondary schools facing manpower shortages. In fact, Kano has the highest number of Arabic teachers in the country,” he added.
Doguwa noted that NBAIS schools in Kano now include Art and Commercial subjects in their curriculum and are fully integrated into conventional education. Plans are underway to introduce science subjects to enable NBAIS students to qualify for admission into any university in Nigeria.
He further highlighted a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian government, which has resulted in the arrival of three Arabic teachers, with seven more expected soon to strengthen the teaching of Arabic and Islamic studies in Kano.
