|
Understanding The Girl Child Education In Islamiyya School: An Answer To Malcolm Doney By Fauzi Muhammad Zarruk A.B.U. Zaria.
I will first of all commend Malcolm Doney, the Department for International Development (DFID) reporter for his wonderfully opinionated piece of work titled "School's in", in The Developments Magazine, issue 32, Fourth Quarter, 2005 on girl-child education in the Islamic society of Northern Nigeria-Kano, which I am so sure he is proud of as a journalist even if it is opposed to the ethics of the profession. The work is indeed particularly educating, more so that it sheds light to the typical American attitude of unfounded assumptions especially when it concerns societal values and norms. This is unfortunate because no matter how objective a work is and whatever the good will intent of the writer is, once its premise is prejudiced, the end result is nothing but printed characters on paper. In the first place, the real meaning of the writing is shrouded in ambiguity because it is laced with comprehensible information against uninformed personal opinions. Secondly, the message the writer is keen about passing to his consumer and indeed the audience is all misleading if not depriving of a fundamental human right; the right to be educated.
Essentially, the writer was quite justifiably, amazed by the glaring aberration between what obtain in most developing countries of the world about the low prioritization of girl-child education, and the real situation of the Islamic States of Northern Nigeria and specifically Kano where he got his first hand experience from. Incidentally, that is a region I so happen to come. I was therefore surprised that such an age long tradition is just being recognized by the western media outfit so much so that it felt that the situation should be given an exclusive coverage. Ordinarily, this would have been something to be proud of but instead it makes the hairs rise with suspicion of an otherwise ulterior motive of the west, particularly now that it is so much involved in Nigerian politics in relation to the world political arena.
At face value, one may simply see the situation cited as a model for emulation. Especially with the Millennium Goal at stake. It is documented by the UN that "there is a global problem in education – not enough girls are going to school. Around 58 million are missing primary education. Let alone secondary schooling. This was recognized when the Millennium Development Goals where set and gender parity was given greater urgency over the other aims and targeted for 2005, as opposed to 2015. A target, all the same, missed by around 75 countries". And northern Nigeria may be braking the jinx.
In a paper presented at a workshop on "Child Rights Act – the Islamic perspective," Hon. Tahir Umar Tahir, highlights the rights of children in Islam as was revealed in the Glorious Qur'an fourteen hundred years ago. These rights include among others, the right to disciplined and responsible mothers; right to good names; rights to be breastfed; rights to have proper upbringing and education; rights to have welfare; rights to the unborn child; and rights to equal treatment. These rights are still valid. The Muslims are aware of them even before the west became "civilized", which is the reason why Islam does not discriminate between the male and female child contrary to the view held by a vast majority including, unfortunately, uninformed Muslims.
To associate Islam with barring of the female child from acquiring sound education is therefore a malicious and indeed a demonic propaganda of the west to further delude…the rights of the child are recognized, defined and protected by Islam. It promotes good values, discipline, respect and high moral standards. Children, regardless of their gender, need special guidance so that they grow as sound and disciplined citizens for the positive development of any nation. This is a goal that can not be achieved if the mother herself is not educated.
It is therefore not at all surprising that the girl-child is equally in the classroom just as her male counterparts in the North of Nigeria. I assure you, you will find a similar scenario in all Muslim states of the world except of course, those places where cultural values override secular ones or where the west has forcefully imposed its derogatory values upon the Muslim girls thereby effectively edging them out of school. The writer was able to observe that the girls in this Islamiyya schools outnumber the boys roughly two to one. This he was able to do through visual observation because all the girls have been garbed in their scarves, which has to all intents and purpose, given them an identity and some symbol of integrity. They will not have had that opportunity if they were in France. Yes, France! Or is it not where Muslim girls where forbidden to identify with themselves and their faith by wearing the veil? Or what about Pakistan where the United States declared that all Islamiyya should be abolished, because they see it as a breeding ground for terrorist instead of means of educating the girl child. If the so called "modern" school curriculum can not tolerate civility at its best, why then should the local Islamiyya be an impediment to the realization of the much talked about UN millennium goals? Or is it because the system poses a challenge of being able to cheaply, deal with a problem that 'they' have been pretending to be advocating while promoting other heinous agendas of immorality among children? The uncompromising stance of the Islamic educational system sees that the chastity of the woman folk is always protected.
This is apparently a never ending discourse which can however be summed up by simply making recommendations that will further the efficiency of the existing Islamiyya School system. One such recommendation is that women play a vital role in the upbringing of the children that are leaders of tomorrow and builders of the community. This is not possible until women are educated enough to enable them carry out this onerous task. Therefore, government at various levels together with local and foreign NGOs have to put in more effort to really understand and streamline the Islamiyya school system into a viable and sustainable framework.
|