Religious Education in Singapore

Background
-historical role of madrasah in Muslim SEA in the education of
Muslim religious teachers, scholars and leaders. Key agents in
teaching and transmission of religious knowledge to the
community
-part-time or fulltime basis in pondok (hut), mosques; pesantren
(religious boarding school) and madrasah
-curriculum consists of learning to recite the Koran,
understanding its core teachings, devotional worship and rituals,
hadith studies, fikh( rulings or law), history of Islam, tasawwuf
(mysticism) and theology
Cont…
Mode of learning –centered predominantly on memorizing
texts transmitted over centuries. Texts comprise ‘Kitab
Kuning’-religious texts written in Malay as well translated
Arabic religious texts of the Shafie tradition. Texts are
generally deemed sacred and not approached as knowledge
that can appraised, reviewed or analysed. Learning centers
around the centrality of the uztad(teacher) who is the major
agency in transmission of thought. Questioning the uztad is
not encouraged and regarded as a sing of disrespect.
sources of funding
Religious education during the
colonial period
Colonial educational policy -non-intervention
-religious schools not registered
- non-funded
Served as an important, affordable and pragmatic
type of education that taught children values and basic
teachings of Islam
Allowed for incorporation of religious teaching in
schools but after curriculum time. Religious teachers
are not paid by the govt.
Cont…
Lack of quality and access of religious education spurred
Muslim reformers to set up madrasah in response to
changing socio-historical conditions and demands. Madrasah
assimilated modern knowledge such as English, history,
Maths, geography as part of its curriculum (eg al-Iqbal 1907)

Closure of many self-funded religious schools due to lack of

resources and the establishment of state funded
mainstream schools. Those that survived include Al-Maarif
(1936), Aljunied (1927) Alsagoff (1913)
Developments in Muslim Religious Education

Government’s education policy in the context of self government and

merger – establishment of vernacular schools and expansion of English
medium schools
Beginnings of dwindling enrolment and closure of some religious schools
due to survival issues and limited job prospects for students
State’s national agenda of nation-building and national development after
independence and its impact on education - expansion of state schools
both academic and technical
The central role of education in achieving economic, social development
and social cohesion of Singapore’s plural society
State as principal provider of education. Supervision of private education
(including religious schools) by the Ministry of Education
Cont…
Constitutional guarantee for the right of religious group to
establish and maintain institutions for the education of
children and to provide instruction in its own religion-Art 16
Government’s general non-interventionist stance in Muslim
religious schools
Beginnings of discourse on dual objectives by community
elite amidst the challenge of its survival
Changing curriculum that offers both religious and national
curriculum up till ‘A’ levels
Cont…
Major challenges – quality of education, quality of teachers, their salaries
and career prospects, lack of standardization of administration, syllabus,
assessment, dominant mode of teaching and learning, prospects of
employment for students, funding issues, dwindling enrolment
Formation of Mendaki in 1982. Problems of madrasah received more
systematic attention. Government’s response by giving mandate to MUIS
to assist and co-ordinate various forms of Islamic education through the
legislative framework of AMLA. However due to lack of resources,
madrasah continued to function independently.
Madrasah reduced to ‘dumping ground’ for drop-outs
6 full time madrasah survive offering a combination of religious and
national curriculum
The phenomenon of the resurgence of Islam and
madrasah education
The impact of Muslim resurgence in the 1980s on madrasah education
- Rhetoric on dichotomy between ‘secular’ and religious knowledge
- Attack on secularism and secular knowledge and education as un-Islamic
- The image of the west in moral crisis - fear and anxiety of the negative
influence of westernization in corroding Malay identity and culture based on
Islam
- Call for Islamization of knowledge and integration of knowledge on the basis
of faith in Islam
- Emphasis on acquisition of religious knowledge to insulate Muslims from the
adverse immoral effects of modernization
- Emphasis on forms as integral to Muslim identity at the expense of principles
Cont….
Changes to mission of madrasah in integrating
secular and religious knowledge
Introduction of dual objective of madrasah
education –to create both Muslim professional as
well as a theologian
Cont…
-Sharp increase in enrolment and demand for madrasah education
beyond the capacity of the institution
Record of educational performance incongruent with stated
objectives and demand
Concern of the government
-drop-out and failures from the madrasah on
-employment prospects
-quality of education to meet the demands of the
-changing educational landscape
-national integration and nation building
Compulsory education
Policy for compulsory education policy for first six years of
elementary education in 2003 n
Madrasah’s initial response-suspicious of governments ‘sinister’
motive to close down madrasah
Support of community organisations
Tension eased by government’s offer for madrasah to provide
compulsory education subject to madrasah fulfilling a minimum
standard of the average performance 6 lowest performing schools
at the PSLE.
Enrolment for students capped at 400 per year. This condition was
based on projection of consultants commissioned by MUIS.
Major implications of CE
Lack of adequate attention to other ways in which religious education can be
taught without subjecting madrasah to providing CE. Overriding assumption is
that religious education must start from primary school
Focus of attention and resources given to the national curriculum at the
primary level to prevent closure of madrasah.
Training of madrasah teachers to teach Maths, Science and English using the
resources of the community.
Predominant attention given to funding issues at all levels of madrasah
education. While MUIS and Mendaki has continued to provide madrasah with
substantial funding since the 1990s, these remain insufficient. Rigorous efforts
made by madrasah to source for additional funding. Sermons emphasize
obligation of the community to donate.
Cont…
PERGAS çalled on government to fund madrasah in addition to funding
provided by MUIS
MUIS has intensified its support beyond funding. Collaborate with
madrasah to devise curriculum and training of teachers. Assists in
enrolment of students into primary madrasah and facilitates the national
examinations for them. Engaged consultants on the policy of using English
rather than Arabic as medium of instruction in teaching. (some madrasah
protested against this policy). Also facilitated the establishment of Dana
Madrasah and other financial programs to help the madrasahs.
Introduced scholarships and programs for top madrasah students. Recent
PM’s announcement to provide funding for non-religious curriculum
signifies the efforts of MUIS for madrasahs’ development
Cont…
Intense focus on madrasah and national integration
community
Formation of JMS (Joint Madrasah System) as
backup plan for madrasah to make the grade. If
they can’t they will not offer PSLE but focus on
secondary and A level education. Most madrasah
have responded as they fail to satisfy the
benchmark
Major issues overlooked
Problems in dual aims of madrasah education and
its ramifications on educational achievement in
both forms of knowledge
Revaluation of religious curriculum at all levels
Reflections on dominant mode of teaching and
learning in madrasah education as a whole amidst
changing educational landscape
Cont…
Prevalence of traditionalism in mode of teaching and learning
-persistence of a curriculum that has remained unchanged since medieval times.
-knowledge is perceived as contained in books or in the minds of teachers which had to
be acquired and stored up rather than discovered
-approach to teaching is ‘authoritarian’ with the teacher occupying central significance
as the deliverer of knowledge while students are passive recipients of what is taught
-understanding of religious knowledge as fixed and absolute without a sense of
historicity
-preoccupation with rituals and other –wordly matters at the expense of present issues
-theology that tend to limit or doubt the importance of reason
-emphasis on learning by rote and the lack of critical discussions
Major features in changing
educational landscape
-Proliferation of knowledge and information with digital technology
-rapid change in knowledge production and dissemination.
-participatory learning and production of knowledge and information via
social media. Learners not only consume knowledge and information on-line
but simultaneously use media in producing them. -challenge to learn and
unlearn knowledge and skills more quickly. Educators warn that much of what
are taught in schools will be irrelevant by the time learners leave making it
harder for assimilation and communication before the next shift occurs
- Schools no longer have the monopoly of education and teachers no longer
centers of explicit knowledge. Schools attempt to capitalize on information
resources and applications - emphasis on developing learners’ critical skills
and competencies in handling, accessing, making sense of information in
media and applying content from various information sources.
Cont…
-Rise of critical literacy movement that challenge teaching and learning as merely imparting
information. Maintains that written, visual, spoken, multimedia and performance “text” are
not independent or neutral but project power relations. Emphasize development of
competencies to understand attitudes, values and belief that lie beneath the surface of
media. Stress that without educating young people to develop understandings of the
meaning of texts and how they change in varying contexts, how they are appropriated, by
whom and for what ends, they will be unable to constructively critique anything they have
learned, account for its cultural location, or creatively extend or apply it and will only grow
into unquestioning adults incapable of innovation.
-development of these core competencies in student centric and life-long learning. The new
pedagogy is less concerned with right answers but in asking relevant questions, learning to
be curious, engaged and critical.
 -this  new participatory culture of learning is developing rapidly given its low barriers to
participation. It also functions as a hidden curriculum that offers an attractive platform for
sharing and creating resources. Transparency in understanding meanings of content and how
they are appropriated intensifies the importance for relevant competencies that will enable
learners to utilise media ethically and responsibly.
Cont…
Madrasah are not isolated from the processes of change impacting
upon mainstream schools in this interconnected and shrinking global
world. The proliferation of massive contested knowledge on religious
teachings and beyond via media pose similar challenges to students.
What is taught and how in these schools therefore also impact on the
critical competencies of the learners. Madrasah students like those in
mainstream schools cannot afford to be isolated from new modes of
literacy that will enable them to analyze and evaluate texts and
discourse and their relevance to the condition and demands of the
modern world.
Part-time and tertiary religious
education
Offers basic religious knowledge. Conducted by various Islamic organisations, in
private residence and at mosques (56 moques and 27 pte education
centres)outside school hours and on weekends for diverse groups and ages within
the community
Curriculum at mosques restructured according to a L.I.V.E. (Living Islamic Values
Everyday) initiative to cater to children and teens over 3 hrs per week.
The preparation of content and syllabus is done by Islamic Education Strategic
Unit (IESU). It adopts role play role modelling in teaching religion. Teachers
teaching the programme must meet a number of academic criteria and are
offered training in pedagogy
MUIS also develop madrasah curriculum. Design syllabus, student textbooks and
activities, teachers’manual and resource kits. Higher Islamic education pursued
either in the region or through twining progammes between local private colleges
and “Islamic” universities abroad (egs. UIA, UKM, KUIM)
Cont…
Training of religious teachers (asatizah) is overseen by
Asatizah Strategic Unit of MUIS. Initiate and manage
the aL.I.V.E. programme.
Established the Asatizah recognition scheme.
Credentials and knowledge of Islam must be verified
and approved by Asatizah Recognition Board
comprising senior religious teachers before they can
preach in religious establishments in Singapore
Board is supported administratively by PERGAS