President Muhammadu Buhari says the plan to ban the Almajiri system of education will not be immediate.
Babagana Monguno, national security adviser, had announced that the government was planning to proscribe the educational system in a bid to curb insecurity.
The announcement had since generated reactions from Nigerians.
However, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, in a statement on Friday, said Buhari was not in a hurry to make decisions on Almajiri.
According to him, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities.
He said due consultations will be made with relevant agencies before any action is taken, warning that plans for massive arrest of parents are definitely are false.
This is in responses to earlier pronouncements by Buhari on free and compulsory basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria, during his speech at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
The statement read: “The abrogation of the Almajiri (Qur’anic learning system associated with begging on economic and religious grounds peculiar to some Northern states) system of education remains an objective but there is no immediate ban of it by the Buhari Administration.
“The presidency, therefore, calls for caution in responses to the pronouncements by President Muhammadu Buhari on free and compulsory basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria, during his speech on Thursday, June 20, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
“While the Buhari administration is committed to free and compulsory education as a long-term objective of bringing to an end, the phenomenon of out-of-school children, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities.
“Indeed, the federal government wants a situation where every child of primary school age is in school rather than begging on the streets during school hours.
“Reports that there are plans for massive arrest of parents are definitely out of place. Things have to be done the right and considerate way.
“Free and compulsory primary school education is a requirement of the Nigerian constitution and any individual or group not in compliance with this is violating the law of the land and liable to be punished.”
