By Uzair Adam Imam
Many people reacted with shock over a viral video showing an eight-year-old Almajiri beaten mercilessly by his ‘Tsangaya’ Quranic teacher.
The Daily Reality gathered that punishment was due to the kid’s failure to bring food to the teacher, which is an age-old practice in many Tsangaya schools.
A source told our correspondent that the kid was found roaming the street after running away from the school.
The source added that a relative brought the victim to Kano from Magamar Gumau Local Government Area of Bauchi State for Qur’anic studies after his mother’s demise.
“I don’t want to go back to the school. The teacher will kill me. I want to return to my father,” said the kid.
Begging outlawed in Kano
Kano State is becoming a haven for beggars, despite the state government’s ban on street begging and subsequent measures the government to enforce the order.
In 2019, the Ganduje administration banned street begging, introducing new approaches to improving the education of the almajiri system.
In a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Malam Abba Anwar, said the effort was to consolidate the free and compulsory primary and secondary education fully.
“If an Almijiri teacher thinks he cannot accept the new policy, he has to leave the state.
“When Almajiri are caught begging, it is not only that beggar is caught but also his parents or guardians. Such parents or guardians would be taken to court to face the wrath of the law,” the governor threatened,” the statement said.
But despite the ban, street begging has held to its position in the state, as beggars are still on the state’s streets.
Citizens blame government
Some people blame the government for not consolidating its position of improving the Almajiri education system to mitigate the menace of bagging in the state.
A former president of Foundation Against Child Abuse, Abdulmalik Shu’aibu Sani, blamed the government for playing politics with the menace.
Abdulmalik Shu’aibu said, “Government decides to play politics in handling this issue. If the government had actually banned or changed the Almajiri education system in the state, this boy wouldn’t have been beaten like a slave.”
“I believe this will surely be a joyous and celebratory idea if the government could implement the new system or at least tax parents to pay for school fees. With that money, their children will be fed.”
Amina Shu’aibu said, “I know the government will not do this. Anything about it is political.”
Some concerned citizens described the punishment as disheartening, stating that the system is not what it used to be.
Abdulmalik Shu’aibu Sani said such heartless people should be brought before the law to reap what they sow while calling on the government to take action.
He lamented that the kid was too small for that brutal beating, saying he could not take responsibility for himself and his teacher.
Adam Zahraddeen, one of the active members of the Almajiri Foundation in the state, said that in the past, Almajiri parents paid a certain amount of money and “that money will be used to feed his child by the Malam.
“It is heart-touching to see such forsaken small kids wandering on streets searching for what to eat.
“The government should by now end the Almajiri system of education and rethink how to reform the system.
Amina Adamu, who said she almost cried on watching the video, stated that she felt sorry for the boy.
She said, “Seeing the picture of this boy in this situation, I feel bad, sad, and sorry for the kid. He looks so pathetic. I feel like no matter what this boy has done, he doesn’t deserve to be beaten mercilessly like this.”
We are not heartless
Auwal Ilyas, one of the senior students at an Almajiri school in the state, said what happened was entirely contrary to what is obtainable in the system.
He stated, “The person who did this beating was very wrong. I believe a true teacher who answers his name will not do the same. So it must be a gardi (a senior Almajiri) that committed such a pathetic and regretful thing. I know gardi used to ask for food but not Malam.
“How will a teacher ask this very small kid to bring him food? In our school, our teacher, my father, take responsibility for any Almajiri. Malam provides two square meals for them, breakfast and lunch,” Auwalu added.