Challenges and Prospect of Arabic Schools in Yorubaland in the Modern Time

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine the challenges facing the Arabic schools in Yorubaland in the modern time. This study was undertaken to investigate into what could be the solution to many problems facing Arabic schools ranging from European intrusion, societal stereotype, poor patronage, lack of finance, lack of qualified personnel to mention but few. The prospect of Arabic schools therefore lies in their ability to integrate western education into their system by adopting one of the three recommended models. It begins with an introduction, traces the historical origin of Arabic in Yorubaland and gives the manifestations of serious interest in Arabic among Yoruba Muslims. This is followed by having a look at some of the challenges confronting Arabic schools and their prospect in the light of integration models as well as their features, merits and demerits that will make them compete favourably with western education.  Afterwards, the paper ends with a conclusion and provides certain recommendations.

Keywords: challenge, prospect, Arabic school and modern time