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| Sultan Abubakar - Northern Cleric |
CC™ PersPectiveBy Olakunle Maruf and Ishola Michael
The governments of three northern states, Katsina, Kebbi and Bauchi, have directed all schools, public and private, to proceed on holiday for the whole month of Ramadan when strict fasting is observed by Muslims.
The governments said the holiday is to allow students, teachers and other stakeholders to observe the holy month, which begins today.
According to Kebbi State’s revised 2024/2025 academic calendar, the second term would conclude on February 28, 2025, with the Ramadan break commencing on March 1, 2025.
Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, said the state government approved the break to provide an opportunity for the Muslim community within the state’s educational institutions to engage fully in fasting, prayers and other religious activities associated with Ramadan.
According to Idris, schools across the state are scheduled to resume for the third term on April 7, 2025.
“The government urges all educational establishments to adhere to this schedule and wishes the Muslim faithful a spiritually fulfilling Ramadan.”
The Katsina State government also directed all schools in the state to shut down for Ramadan.
A statement particularly ordering private schools to close and warning against non-compliance was issued by the Commander General of the state’s Hisbah Board, Dr Aminu Usman.
The statement reads: “In accordance with the Katsina State government’s directive, all private schools are required to close for the Ramadan period to allow pupils to fully observe the holy month. The directive includes extra lessons, please.
“The Hisbah Board urges all school proprietors to strictly comply with this directive. Non-compliance will not be tolerated.
“May Allah accept our fast and grant us His blessings.”
Efforts to ascertain if the Sokoto State government would toe the same line were unsuccessful.
The spokesman for the state’s Ministry of Education, Ibrahim Iya, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report, but a source in the ministry told our correspondent that the state was considering the closure of schools for only two weeks.
The holiday directive in Bauchi State, which was handed down through the Ministry of Education, said all schools operating in the state, including privately owned and faith-based ones, are expected to be closed for the next 40 days.
The development, it said, is to allow Muslim pupils and students to stay at home with their parents to observe the month-long Ramadan fast.
However, the development has been greeted with mixed reactions, with parents expressing confusion over the directive.
The parents who cut across religions described the situation as needless, considering the fact that the students are expected to prepare for a series of external examinations in the coming months.
Some of the parents who responded to Saturday Tribune’s enquiries said they were worried for their children’s education, noting the implications of the “forced holiday” for their performances in the forthcoming exams.
Amos Ayuba has three children in a school in Bauchi said he was worried that “one of the kids who is in SS3 will find it pretty difficult when it is time to write the series of examinations ahead of her.”
He appealed to the state government to reconsider its directive and make the holiday optional, particularly for faith-based schools who might opt for early closure every day rather than full-blown holiday.
“I am confused, really. I had hoped that before this kind of policy would be implemented, parents would be carried along because after all, we are the most affected.
“I thought that they would at least make it optional for schools to adopt the policy because it’s not in all parts of Bauchi that people are fasting. If they must make it a statewide policy, why not reduce the hours spent in school so that the children can close early?” he said.
Another parent who has children at another school lamented that children would forget all they had learnt by the time they return to write their exams after 40 days away from schools.
“Honestly, this will be counterproductive. How can you reconcile teaching children for two months and sending them on a one-month break, and then you ask them to write exams immediately after they return from the break? I can’t understand it,” the parent said.
A mother who pleaded for anonymity because she is a Muslim stated that “the state governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, who, in my opinion, has done very well in many aspects, including education, should look into this policy so that the system he has fought so hard to build will not collapse.”
Reacting to the development, the Association of Christian Private Schools said staying home for five weeks and resuming school to conclude the term would affect the preparations of students for external examinations of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) since the syllabuses might not be covered.
The chairman of the association, Reverend Musa Bogoro Zakka, in a letter to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state, said: “The proposed calendar will surely damage the morals of students who are expected to return and start writing examinations, and continue another term without break for 14 weeks.
“The enforcement of the proposed Ramadan break may disrupt peaceful coexistence between Christian and Muslim students mentally as it may be perceived as forcing all students to remain at home regardless of their religious affiliations.
“But if it is made optional as has always been, it will encourage and entrench flexibility and tolerance in educational policy of the Ministry of Education, in line with the core principles of the Executive Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, who has demonstrated inclusiveness in all his government policies and administration which the Christian community is very proud of.
“Another critical issue is that the closure is restricted to only nursery, primary and secondary schools in the state while tertiary institutions, civil servants and the private sector go about their normal activities. It gives the impression that private sector education is being undermined and marginalised.
“We had hoped as always that the calendar be kept optional while the needs of our Muslim students are taken into consideration by adjusting the timetable for lessons to close earlier than usual.
“We are also aware that the flexibility exhibited in academic planning by past commissioners of education in Bauchi State has greatly entrenched the value of peaceful coexistence.
“Partnership between private and public schools built a robust collaboration with the ministry which has been providing policy and supervision to all schools under it, yet noting the peculiarities of private sector education so that parents have value for the funds expended on school fees. If this is sustained, we will be very grateful.
“In conclusion, we hold in high esteem the religious and moral benefits of Ramadan fasting as it entrenches the tenets of both learning and character in our various institutions. All we are asking is that instead of outright closure of all nursery, primary, and secondary schools in the state, it can be made optional while the government, in its usual magnanimity, makes adequate and sufficient provision to take good care of our boarding Muslim students and give the usual Sallah celebration holidays.”
The proprietor of Baptist Royal Academy, one of the faith-based schools in Bauchi State, Reverend Raphael Adetunmibi, has said that the closure of faith-based schools during Ramadan will negatively impact the standard of education in the state.
Reacting to the closure of the schools across the state by the Ministry of Education for the sake of Muslim students who will be observing Ramadan fast which begins today, Adetunmibi said: “Having the knowledge that the Ministry of Education has control over the private schools within the state as the Federal Government enables her, there should be consultations with the relevant stakeholders.
“In one way or the order, the Ministry of Education can make policy that will control the private schools, but must put the students into consideration, so that their performances would not be affected.
“I want to suggest that the closure of the schools during the Ramadan days, most especially for the private schools, should be made optional.”
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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