The Almajiri System, Explained

Few subjects in Nigerian public life attract as much confident commentary from people who have not examined it. This is a factual account.

What it is

The almajiri system is a Qur'anic education practice of long standing in northern Nigeria, particularly in the Hausa-Fulani north-west and north-east.

Boys, typically aged around five to fifteen, are sent away from home to study under an itinerant Islamic teacher — a malam — at a tsangaya school. The pupils are called almajirai, singular almajiri, from the Arabic al-muhajir, meaning migrant or one who emigrates in pursuit of knowledge.

The curriculum centres on memorisation of the Qur'an. In its traditional form, a pupil progresses through stages of recitation and memorisation over several years.

How it is funded, and why that matters

The schools are informally funded. There is no fee structure, no state subvention and no endowment in most cases.

In practice this means pupils commonly support themselves and their teacher by begging — the image most Nigerians associate with the word. It is not an intrinsic feature of the educational model; it is a consequence of the funding model.

That distinction is important for any serious discussion of reform. A system that provided material support to tsangaya schools would remove the economic necessity of begging without touching the religious instruction.

What is and is not taught

The curriculum is usually rote Qur'anic memorisation. In the traditional form it does not include:

• numeracy
• literacy in English or Hausa written in Latin script
• any accredited certification

A pupil may complete years of study, memorise the entire Qur'an — a substantial intellectual achievement — and emerge with no qualification recognised by any Nigerian employer or institution.

This is why almajirai feature so heavily in out-of-school statistics. They are receiving an education. It is not one that registers in formal enrolment data or that opens the formal labour market.

On the claims about recruitment

The system is routinely cited as a recruitment pool for insurgent and criminal groups. This claim should be treated as contested rather than established.

What is documented is that large numbers of unsupervised, unsupported boys in economically precarious circumstances are vulnerable to exploitation by whoever offers food and belonging. That is a statement about vulnerability, not about the educational system itself, and it would be true of any comparable population.

Asserting a causal link between Qur'anic education and violent extremism goes beyond what the evidence supports, and it has been used to justify measures that punish children.

Current federal policy

The National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE) was established by Act of Parliament on 27 May 2023 — Children's Day — under the Federal Ministry of Education. Its mandate is to deliver multi-modal education combining literacy, numeracy and vocational or entrepreneurial skills to almajirai and out-of-school children.

Reforms announced on 24 August 2026 in Kaduna set out five pillars: foundational literacy, numeracy, vocational and technical education, digital literacy, and civic education. States were urged to domesticate the Commission's Act and to adopt policies on almajiri education, non-state schools, alternative learning pathways and an Accelerated Basic Education Programme.

The direction of policy is integration rather than abolition — adding literacy, numeracy and skills training to Qur'anic instruction rather than replacing it. That is a considerably more workable approach than earlier attempts, which foundered on the resistance of communities who correctly perceived them as an attack on religious education.

What has not happened

There is no federal ban on the almajiri system. Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule asked the National Assembly in June 2026 to legislate against it; no such legislation exists.

There is no confirmed federal ban on street begging as part of almajiri reform. Several sites assert one. The 24 August 2026 reform announcement contains no such measure, and neither official source we examined mentions it. We are not stating it as fact.

Several northern states did ban street begging or repatriate almajirai during the COVID-19 period in 2020. Those measures had limited durable effect, and the repatriations in particular were widely criticised for moving children between states without arrangements at either end.

Frequently asked questions

Is the almajiri system illegal? No. There is no federal ban.

Are almajirai counted as out-of-school? Generally yes, in formal enrolment statistics, because tsangaya schools are not accredited. How a specific survey treats them affects its total.

Is the government trying to abolish it? Current federal policy is integration — adding literacy, numeracy and skills to Qur'anic instruction — not abolition.

Sources

• The Commission's mandate — NCAOOSCE
• August 2026 reform pillars — Daily Times
• Nasarawa governor's request, June 2026 — Politics Nigeria