FULL TEXT REPORT ON THE MADRASAH CURRICULUM

Prepared by Judith P. Aguilar under Prof. Tolod

The Madrasah Curriculum is a result of the clamor of Muslim Filipinos to preserve

their ethnic identity as well as uphold their religious and cultural beliefs. The government
responded to this by instituting, among other measures, the educational system and
program that would uphold their ethnicity and belief system.

Figure 1 below is a graphical arrangement of the policies and laws that surround
the Madrasah Curriculum. As can be seen the policy stemmed from a series of events
and efforts to provide a program responsive to the needs of the Muslim group.

The Madrasah Curriculum also known as DepEd D.O. 41 2017 correlates to the
fundamental laws for the national curriculum. However, specific features are noted in
D.O. 41, s 2017 particularly the teaching of Arabic Language and Islamic Values which
is encapsulated in the ALIVE program.

Figure 1. Laws and Policies related to D.O. 41, S. 2017

 The government’s Madrasah Education seeks to provide Muslim learners with
appropriate and relevant educational opportunities while recognizing their cultural
context and unique purposes for participating in the Program offerings.

It integrates content and competencies which are relevant and of interest to

Muslim learners. It harmonizes existing DepEd issuances on Muslim education, with
new provisions for more effective and efficient program development, implementation
and evaluation. Moreover, this also serves as the basis for the development of the
Manual of Operations for the Governance and Administration of the Madrasah
Education Program (MEP).

The Guidelines for the MEP or Madrasah Educational Program had the following
goals:

1) policy formulation and contextualization

2) operationalization of the curriculum support system
3) program management
4) monitoring and evaluation

It also has specific aims which it hoped to accomplish:

• Develop communities according to their culture, traditions, interests and beliefs.

• Recognizes that education is an instrument for maximum participation in national
development
• Aims to serve Filipinos to realize their full potential and meaningfully contribute to
nation building
• Integrate Arabic language and Islamic values into the K to 12 Program.

The Kindergarten Madrasah was basically Kindergarten + ALIVE subjects.

Capacity building is also addressed in the POLICY through its LEaP or Language
Enhancement and Pedagogy, atraining prototype for capacity building and instruction
program for astudz (see below)

 English proficiency
 Lesson plans
 Reading, writing, listening, speaking
 teaching pedgagogy and immersion
There are three general types of madrasah:
Traditional or weekend madrasah.
 it does not have a formal curriculum;
 it is non-graded and may have multi-age grouping; and
 it only requires its teachers to be graduates of a madrasah or to be
an imam (Muslim religious leader)

Developmental or formal madrasah.

This type offers hierarchically structured education and sequential learning
generally attuned with the formal education system. It operates like a regular school
where the students go through madrasah edadi (pre-school), to madrasah sanawi (high
school). The teachings concentrate on Islamic religious and cultural subjects and
include some mathematics and sciences courses, with Arabic as the medium of
instruction. 

Notably madaris students lack the competitive skills required for employment and
are not eligible for transfer to regular schools because the madaris do not implement the
standard curriculum of the Department of Education. This type is not recognized and
accredited by the Department of Education.

Standard private madrasah.

This type of madrasah has been harmonized, upgraded and modified to become
a component of the Philippine education system through the issuance of DepED Order
No. 51, s. 2004, prescribing the Standard Curriculum for Elementary Public Schools and
Private Madaris.

all madrasah institutions in the country shall be required to adopt and implement
said standard curriculum to obtain government recognition and accreditation.

In the public schools, the enriched curriculum is likewise prescribed mandating

the offering of Arabic language and Islamic values for Muslim students throughout the
country in areas where there is a Muslim population.    

Terminology
ALIVE—Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education
ALIVE Coordinators—School, Division and Regional
ATEP—Accelerated Teacher Education Program
customized course approved by CHED and PRC; teacher degree
Astidz—teachers plural of ustadz (male teacher); ustadzah (female teacher)
Arabic Emergent Reading—training program for astidz
Madrasah (pl. madaris) generally refers to Muslim private schools
with core emphasis on Islamic studies and Arabic literacy.
It is a privately-operated school which relies on the support of the local
community or foreign donors, particularly from Islamic or Muslim countries.
The madaris are the oldest educational institution in Mindanao and are
recognized to be the single most important factor in the preservation of the Islamic
faith and culture in the Philippines.
Madaris—plural of madrasah (school)
Private madarish—traditional or private (see succeeding explations)
QEALIS– Qualifying Examination in Arabic Language and Islamic Studies
administered by the Bureau of Education Assessment; entry level for asatidz
Tahderriyah—kindergarten in private Madaris (included in D.O. 47, s. 2016