The role of Islamic education in giving meaning to life and enriching it, instilling discipline and preserving human values, strengthening and advancing human societies, is perhaps too well known to warrant mention. What may not be well known, at least to many of our contemporary generation of western educated elite, are the consequences of the absence of the restraining force of religion in society. Only recently has the increasing crime and violence in the American society, supposedly the most educated and the most advance, is being linked to the weakening, some will say absence, of the restraining effects of religion and the family system. Today American High Schools, the equivalent of our senior secondary schools, are a den of violence, drugs and prostitution, indeed a mirror of the wider American society. In other words, the American experience is proving, if proof is needed, that education and technological advancement without the kind of discipline and restraints that only religion can provide leads only to the destruction of society. In fact the rise of cults in high-tech societies today is seen to betray that intrinsic human urge for divine guidance - an urge modern western civilization, whence our educational system drives its foundations, has, ab initio, chosen to ignore, alas at its own peril! Obvious as this may seem, our educational system, true to type, has been largely oblivious of this fundamental need and had only reluctantly tolerated religion. Islam in particular, with its universality and comprehensibility, precisely seeking to encompass every conceivable aspect of human endeavour, was bound to irk a system which had neatly compartmentalized life into secular and religious. So that while admitting Islam into the system, it had to curtailed and confined it into a subject, very much like geography and chemistry, the pursuits of which becomes the concern of only those who choose to make a career out of it. Islam as a social and moral system was thus reduced to a classroom subject to be read for examination purposes. Islam as taught in our secondary school is a subject like any other, devoid of any moral or social significance, or at least so the students are made to believe. Needless to say that this is a great disservice to Islam as a way of life and to the Muslim society which the schools are meant to serve. For the avoidance of doubts the problems raised are neither rhetorical nor pigments of imaginations. These are problems on the grounds which have too often been masked in some oblique responses, oversimplified or even ignored and wished away. The confinement of Islam in our school system to a class room subject had greatly curtailed its positive impact on the moral and behavioral plane. In effect Islam is being curtailed from informing the value system. Thus while Islam is taught in the school the value system remains western and materialistic. Hence the product of our educational system tend to imbibe and consequently exhibit western norms and values, which are not only different from but often in conflict with and hold in contempt the largely Islamic socio-cultural environment. The lack of enthusiasm of many parents can be traced directly to this disharmony between the two conflicting value system. The truancy factor, which is higher in the rural areas, where traditional values are strongest, is only a symptom of this general apathy and lack of commitment to a system of education which holds their world-view in contempt and whose roots lie in a different society with different tradition, culture and history. We may wish to wish it away, but there is a serious problem of harmony, relevance and commitment in our educational system which must be resolved if we are to make genuine and positive progress as a people. We must be prepared to appreciate that while legislation and media campaign could force or persuaded some parents to send and retain their children at school, for as long as the source of this apathy and misgiving remains, the problem will remain and keep recurring. The bone of contention, to be sure, is not the subjects taught, but the value system which informs the educational system and consequently determines the perception and attitude of those who went through it. What is needed to be done, it seems to me, is to liberate Islam for the shackles placed on it by this educational system, allow it more reins so that the pervading value system will be Islamic and the fears and misgivings of parents are allayed and the products will blend more with the socio-cultural environment. Under the Islamic value system, education will undoubtedly be more responsible and the wider society the better for it all on both the moral and material sphere. The demands from many parents for a place at the Women Arabic Teachers college at D/ma is nothing more than an expression of this yearning for an education under the Islamic value system, an education they understand and value, an education they will be prepared to support and defend. Katsina being a wholly Muslim society, the state has both moral and constitutional obligation to meet the needs and aspirations of its people. Giving Islam a prominent role in the educational system is thus both proper and practical. This, for the sake of clarity, does not necessarily mean changing the existing syllabus or teachers. It only means that Islam will not be confined to the classroom, but will be allowed into the routine and daily life of the students and their teachers. This will of course mean that the students receive extra lessons and orientation designed to make them more knowledgeable about Islam and better practicing Muslims. The students will have to be particularly motivated through quizzes and competitions. This will also require availability of qualified teachers and relevant books in schools. It may be necessary that the headmaster and principals as well as teachers in addition to being qualified must endeavour to symbolize the Islamic culture. The promotion of teachers should no longer be simply a matter of academic or class performance, but also predicated on character as measured on the scale of Islam. Above all this could be reinforced by an appropriate media campaign. This, more than any legislation or campaign, will elicit the confidence of parents in the schools and produce graduates, who, even as drop outs, will be more useful to the society. Many Muslim countries have, in recent years, tried this with very good results. Sudan and Malaysia are very good examples. The benefits of the infusion of the Islamic value system to both the educational system as well as the wider society is very easy to see. But the implementation itself may not be easy and may have to be gradual. There is the need therefore to work out a detailed programme, spread over time, once this idea has been accepted. This programme may involve a number of components, prominent among which will be a selection and procurement of relevant Islamic literature; youth and students quiz, competitions and other similar activities; short training courses for both staff and students. There are several organizations within and outside the country who will be very willing to assist the state in achieving this kind of objective. It may be worth adding that Islam is fast emerging as a force to reckon with world over, the western media campaign against it not with standing. The way Muslim groups cleaned some of the most dreaded New York slums of drugs and prostitution, something which had defied the American authorities for the best part of the last three decades; the way Western women are flocking to Islam, having realised that the rights they stand to enjoy under Islam are both unsurpassed and unprecedented; the increasing realization among Western but particularly British scholars and economist of the dynamic and humane nature of the Islamic economics; are all pointing to an emerging trend in a world which is becoming increasing skeptical and disenchanted with itself. On the social and political front many Muslims societies in Africa and Asia, who had operated several Western social and political models for three decades or more, without much avail, some will say with disastrous results, are fast resorting to their Islamic solutions, some with remarkable success. It looks like, just as the second world war gave vent to the struggle for independence in Africa, so it seems the current dismal failure of western models is signaling a struggle of cultural independence. Many African scholars are already returning to base for fresh planning. For the Muslims it will be a return to Islam, a system tested and proved dependable for more than a millennium. This little contribution is to provoke some thoughts and stimulate a discussion that may hopefully provide richer perspectives and thoughtful proposals, insha Allah. Presented at Katsina, 14 December 1993.