SOCIAL AMENITIES IN ZARIA TOWN (Schools)

All societies have one form of educational system or the other as a means of rejuvenating or socialising itself at all times. For instance, the society of Birnin Zaria during the pre-colonial period had developed two forms of educational systems. One of these was the traditional type of education, which seemed to have been the oldest means of training in traditional societies like Birnin Zaria. Traditional system of education is essentially informal. This is because training of the younger ones in traditional societies was not conducted in formal institutions such as schools and instructions were not conducted in accordance with a specific syllabus. In a traditional educational system, elderly members of the society impart knowledge and skills to the younger members of the society both at home and outside the home. The aim of the traditional system of education was to prepare the individual physically, morally, intellectually, socially and vocationally so as to make the individual good enough to shoulder societal responsibilities.
The second type of education was the Islamic education. The history of Islamic education in Birnin Zaria could be traced to the introduction of Islam into the Birni around the 14th century. This was because Islam always goes hand in hand with learning. Islamic education was conducted in a formal way in the sense that classes were held in privately owned Zaure schools with a handful of pupils (Almajirai) taught by a single teacher (Malam) in a multi-grade class setting, meeting throughout the day with intermittent breaks. Not only that classes, were held within specific days usually from Saturday to Wednesday. Above all classes were conducted in accordance with a definite syllabus, which cut across the various stages of learning.
Islamic education is aimed at a balanced growth of the total personality of a man through the training of man’s spirit, intellect and rationality. It emphasises goodness and struggles for perfection. Zaria is generally acknowledged as one of the great centres of Islamic education in Hausa land even before the 19th century Jihad of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio. The educational development of Zaria was due to the presence of many schools in the Birni. Prominent among these schools were Kona, Juma, Kofar Doka, Kakaki and Umar Wali schools. Details about the history of these schools are discussed in subsequent chapters. However, our concern here is on the operations and organisation of the schools.
Islamic education was conducted in five stages. A new entrant into an Islamic school was expected to start from a certain point but could stop at any level he aspired to. The first step in the process of Islamic learning commenced with the Babbaku. This involved learning how to identify the different Arabic alphabets. These alphabets were usually written on a wooden slate called Allo. As a pupil mastered the alphabets he then graduated to the next step, which is referred to as Farfaru. At this level the pupil was trained in Arabic vowels. On mastery of the Arabic vowels the pupils move to the third step. This step which is usually called Zube involves learning, reading and writing of the Glorious Qur’an on their Allo bits by bits until he finished the whole book and mastered the art of writing and recitation devoid of mistakes in pronunciation, rhythm, style or penmanship. This stage terminates the elementary level of Islamic education. This is called Sauka (graduation). Public reading of the Qur’an by the graduates and a feast usually marked the sauka.
A pupil was expected to continue with his education after Sauka at a higher level. This enabled him to become a professional Malam. Learning at this level commenced at a stage called Haddatu. This entailed gradual memorisation of the Qur’an until he committed it to memory. At the end of this the pupil will be promoted to the next class, which is referred to as Tishe/Tilawa. This entailed revising the former stage (Haddatu). As the pupil moved to the final stage known as Satu he was expected to write the portions of the Qur’an from memory until he could write out the complete Qur’an from his memory on sheets of paper. This was normally subjected to proof readings before this dissertation project could be accepted and the candidate be recognised as a Hafiz. At the end of this the pupil may decide to terminate his study or to go for specialised field such as the science of Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, Philosophy, astronomy, Medicine, Geography and Literature.
These schools produced many indigenous scholars of international reputes and the products of this educational system provided the intellectual and administrative cadres in the pre-colonial societies of Hausa land. For instance they were employed to work in the Palace as record keepers, as Judges, advisers, interpreters, administrators and teachers.
The Islamic teachers and students maintained themselves through light crafts, farming, trading, alms from people especially after offering prayers for them, occasional donations from parents and their students and gift from the general public.