Bauchi State Ministry of Education has lamented that Qur’anic and Islamiyya schools across the state are yet to shut down as directed by the government as one of the measures to fight the possible spread of the dreaded coronavirus.
The Ministry, therefore, appealed to the proprietors and malams to as a matter of necessity complied with the directives by closing the schools immediately declaring that what they have done by still operating is a serious breach of the order and dangerous to public health.
The ministry in a statement signed by the Commissioner, Dr Aliyu Tilde stated that, “There is the need to secure the health of the almajiri students too. They come from and return to different towns. They roam the streets and homes to fetch every meal they eat”.
“Such high mobility makes them vulnerable to infection by the virus more than any other social group. And when sick, little can be done to them. One infected child, in the crowded rooms they reside in, can cause unimaginable havoc to other children and community”, the ministry added.
It further called that, “Please, let us extend our protection to these poor children as we do to ours. It is important that their malams disperse them to their homes immediately. They must shut down too, immediately, and return the children back to their parents”.
It added that all “Weekend Islamiyya schools for children, adult, males and females, must comply, please. Disease respects no faith. Let them close and open when the pandemic is over. No principal of any public school should allow any access to his school’s premises – distant learners included’.
The Ministry concluded that, “All schools, western or eastern, must shut down. We are calling on all Imams and malams to please comply for our collective safety”.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE