Enhancing national progress and sustainable economic development among Al-Majiri children in Northern Nigeria

Al-Majiri is an itinerant or traditional Islamic educational system commonly known in the Northern part of Nigeria for cultivating spirituality and inculcating morality prior to colonialism. The prevalent street begging by the Al-Majiri children has not contributed to sustainable economic development because of lack of vocational training and entrepreneurships which remains a big gap to fill in the existing body of knowledge. The primary objective of this article therefore, is to investigate vocational training and entrepreneurship skills towards improving Al-Majiri system for attaining national progress and sustainable economic development in the country. Narrative-textual case study and systematic literature review (SLR) were employed as the methodology of the paper where different sources of problem are identified and solutions are proffered for addressing the identified problems. The findings indicated that, inclusion of vocational training and entrepreneurship skills into Al-Majiri system such as shoe-making, tailoring, mechanics, poultry farming, repair of phones, weaving among others can contribute to national progress and sustainable economic development. In conclusion, it is said that, the system of Al-Majiri can be improved, if necessary, mechanisms are being put in place to eradicate illiteracy, inequality and poverty among the students. It is therefore suggested that, all the stakeholders namely: government, school administrators, parents, teachers, students, individuals and society should collaborate in putting effective measures in place for future educational efficiency of Al-Majiris in the country.