QUR'ANIC AND ISLAMIYYAH EDUCATION
Tsangaya and Islamiyyah schools
About 900 schools and 486,000 learners under the Kano State Qur'anic and Islamiyyah School Management Board: Tsangaya schools under their Mallams, integrated Islamiyyah schools teaching the full basic-education curriculum, and non-integrated schools being supported towards it.
An older school system, and the State's place in it
Qur'anic education in Kano is older than the State, older than the colonial administration, and older than any school system that has been laid on top of it. The Tsangaya — a school gathered around a Mallam, where children learn to read, write, recite and memorise the Qur'an on wooden slates — has taught in this city and its hinterland for centuries and taught well. It is not a problem to be solved and the Board does not treat it as one.
What has changed is the world the graduate walks out into. A young man who has memorised the Qur'an in full and cannot read a contract, fill in a form or price his own work is not well served by that, and neither is his family. The Board's task is to add what is missing without taking away what is there: the Qur'anic timetable is kept intact, the Mallam remains the head of his own school, and literacy, numeracy and a trade are added around them.
The Board registers three kinds of school. A Tsangaya school teaches the Qur'an under a Mallam, in the traditional pattern, and there are about 480 registered. An integrated Islamiyyah school teaches Arabic and Islamic studies alongside the full basic-education curriculum, and there are about 290. A non-integrated Islamiyyah school teaches Arabic and Islamic studies only, and there are about 130 still working towards integration. All three sit on the same public register and all three are inspected.
The Qur'anic and Islamiyyah estate
900
Registered schools
480 Tsangaya · 290 integrated · 130 non-integrated
486,000
Learners enrolled
Across all 44 local government areas
11,200
Mallams and teachers
Receiving a State stipend
46,200
Certificate candidates
Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate
The three categories
| Category | What it teaches | Registered schools | Level on the register | Leaving award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsangaya school | Qur'anic reading, writing, recitation, memorisation and Tajweed under a Mallam. Under the integration programme, literacy, numeracy and a trade are added. | 480 | Non-Formal | Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate |
| Integrated Islamiyyah school | Arabic, Islamic studies, Fiqh and Hadith alongside the full basic-education curriculum — English, Mathematics, Basic Science and the rest. | 290 | Primary | Basic Education Certificate and the Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate |
| Non-integrated Islamiyyah school | Arabic and Islamic studies only. Supported by the Board towards integration, with teachers, materials and a curriculum plan. | 130 | Non-Formal | Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate |
What integration means in practice
Integration is often described as though it meant closing Tsangaya schools and moving the children into primary schools. It does not, and it never has. An integrated school keeps the Qur'anic timetable it already had — the same hours, the same Mallam, the same order of study — and the additional subjects are taught around it, usually in the middle of the day when the traditional timetable has a break.
What the State brings is teachers for the added subjects, exercise books and slates, a hot meal on every school day, health screening twice a year with referral where it is needed, and boarding and bedding where the learners are already boarding with the Mallam. The Mallam receives a monthly stipend, which is the first regular income many Tsangaya schools have ever had, and it is paid on condition that attendance is recorded and the additional subjects are actually taught.
The programme is voluntary. A Mallam who does not wish to integrate is not compelled to, and his school remains on the register and is still inspected for the welfare of the children in it. In practice most who have seen a neighbouring school integrated have asked to join.
- The Qur'anic timetable is kept whole — nothing is removed from it.
- Literacy in Hausa and English, numeracy, and one practical trade are added.
- One hot meal on every school day for every enrolled learner.
- Health screening twice a year, with referral and treatment where needed.
- Boarding, bedding and mosquito nets where the learners board.
- A monthly stipend to the Mallam, paid against attendance records.
Registering a Tsangaya or Islamiyyah school
Registration is free. It places the school on the public register, brings it into the inspection cycle and makes it eligible for the stipend, the feeding programme and the supply of materials.
Speak to the Board coordinator in your local government area
The Board has a coordinator in each of the 44 local government areas. The coordinator visits the school, records the Mallam's name, the site, the number of learners and where they come from, and explains what registration involves. There is nothing to pay.
Complete the registration return
A single form: the school name, the Mallam or proprietor, the site and ward, the number of learners split between boys and girls, the number of teachers, whether the learners board, and the water and sanitation on site. The coordinator will complete it with a Mallam who prefers not to write.
Site and welfare visit
The Board visits within thirty days. This is not an inspection against a school building standard — a Tsangaya rarely has one — but a welfare check: shelter, water, sanitation, sleeping arrangements for boarders, and whether any child is begging for food. Where something is wrong the Board's job is to fix it, not to close the school.
Entry on the register and a school code
The school is entered on the public register with a code in the standard form, and the Mallam is given the certificate of registration to display. Registration does not expire.
Choose whether to integrate
A registered school may join the integration programme at any time, or not at all. Joining brings the teachers, the materials, the feeding and the stipend, and commits the school to teaching the added subjects and keeping an attendance register.
Annual return and inspection
Registered schools make a short annual return at census time and receive one welfare inspection a year, more often where a concern has been raised. Feeding and stipend payments are reconciled against the attendance record.
The Qur'anic and Islamic Studies Certificate
The Board's own award, sat in the second week of May at 310 centres, with about 46,200 candidates a year. The entry is ₦1,000, and it is paid by the State for learners in registered Tsangaya schools.
- Memorisation (Hifz) — assessed orally, by portion completed.
- Recitation and Tajweed — the rules of recitation, assessed orally by a panel.
- Fiqh — jurisprudence, at the level appropriate to the candidate.
- Hadith — the prophetic traditions, with chains and meaning.
- Arabic language — reading, writing and comprehension.
- Functional literacy and numeracy in Hausa and English, for candidates from integrated schools.
Questions asked about Tsangaya and Islamiyyah schools
Does integration replace Qur'anic study with Western subjects?
Who decides whether a school integrates?
Is a Tsangaya learner still able to enter a formal school?
What does registration cost?
Are the children fed?
What is done about children begging for food?
Can a girl attend a Tsangaya school?
How is a school inspected?
Raising a concern about a child
Any resident may raise a concern about the welfare of a child in a registered school, in Hausa or English, without giving their name to the school. Contact the Board coordinator for the local government area, any local government education office, or the Ministry on +234 803 700 1420 or at info@moe.kn.gov.ng.
A concern about a child is acted on within seventy-two hours. Give the name of the school and, if you have it, the ward and the school code.
The integration programme
How the State is bringing Tsangaya learners into a curriculum that keeps Qur'anic study whole and adds literacy, numeracy, a trade, feeding and health screening.