Rilek1Corner

Tag: MOE

  • Muslim Mother: This Is Why A Madrasah Education Is As Good As Any Schools In Singapore

    Muslim Mother: This Is Why A Madrasah Education Is As Good As Any Schools In Singapore

    Whenever I tell my non-Malay/Muslim friends (or even some Muslim friends) where my children are schooling, a common reaction would be, “Do they cover the same syllabus?” “Are they on par with the national schools?” My answer would always be a resounding “Yes!” and then I’ll proceed to share a bit more about their school.

    But when I read a comment by some guy online about how Madrasah students only learn Arabic and English (not even Malay??) as if they are undergoing some kind of ‘Arab colonisation’, I felt the need to share more about what at least one of our local full time Madrasahs – Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri – is like.

    📙Admission 📁
    When the kids are in K2 (or at 6yo that year) in April, they will have to sit for an entrance test which comprise of written and oral papers for English, Maths, Malay and Arabic. Applications tend to exceed the number of vacancies available by more than 100%, so it is a very stressful test for parents actually! That half or less than half that got in really did by the Grace of God.

    📕 Curriculum 🗂
    At primary school, these are their subjects:
    ✏️English language (based on latest MOE syllabus, STELLAR and all)
    ✏️Mathematics (based on latest MOE syllabus)
    ✏️Science (based on latest MOE syllabus)
    ✏️Malay language (based on latest MOE syllabus)
    ✏️Arabic language
    ✏️Al Qur’an
    ✏️Tarbiyyah (Islamic knowledge, consisting of Islamic history, theology, jurisprudence and Islamic social studies – one per term)

    As for the first four subjects, MOE-approved textbooks and workbooks are used. The books for the Islamic subjects are locally published in consultation with and under the supervision of the Madrasah Education branch in MUIS.

    📗 Enrichment and CCA 🤗

    1. They have what they call ‘whitespace’ (2 periods) weekly, where they get to experience different activities (one per term, different progs for different levels) not limited to:
    📎 Art programmes
    📎 ICT lessons
    📎 Aikido
    📎 Gymnastics
    📎 Leadership programmes
    📎 Robotics
    📎 Sports and games
    and the list goes on

    2. After-school enrichment classes may include mathematical problem solving classes and English/Malay writing workshops, among others. There is also the Tahfiz (Quran memorisation) class that students can enrol in.

    3. A plethora of interesting CCAs are highly sought after and students even had to ballot to get a place in CCAs such as:
    👍 Archery
    👍 Junior Masterchef
    👍 Taekwando
    👍 A variety of sports – soccer, badminton, swimming, netball
    👍 Robotics
    👍 Khat (Arabic calligraphy)
    and a few others

    4. They are not left out in international/national competitions such as ICAS, Maths Olympiads, robotics competitions, Babble and Speak, etc.

    5. The P5 camps are usually in training centres/campsites in Malaysia for a more rigorous/interesting outdoor experience. I heard there’s also overseas CIP in the pipeline for them.

    6. Once or twice a year, the p3-6 students will have a 2D1N Mukhayyam, a spiritual retreat filled with motivational talks, reminders and night prayers (Tahajjud).

    📘Teachers 👩🏻‍🏫
    Teachers for the four PSLE subjects comprise of both NIE-trained teachers (ex teachers in MOE schools) and teachers trained in education from local and overseas universities/institutions. They also attend short courses/teacher conferences organised by NIE as well as publishers here. Teachers for the Islamic subjects are qualified ustazs and ustazahs who graduated from Islamic institutions/universities locally and abroad too.

    At this point, I must say I have much respect for all the teachers in the Madrasahs, for their sincere dedication and love for the students. If you already feel that the students are going through a lot, imagine the teachers! May Allah reward all the teachers with the best of rewards!

    📙 Assessments 📋
    The P1s and P2s have bite-sized assessments for English and Maths but CA1, SA1, CA2 and SA2 for all other subjects. Other levels have all four main assessments for all subjects. Yes, it is stressful for both kids and parents! 😅 But we survived, and will continue to survive these ‘tests’ on our mental and spiritual strength!

    📕 PSLE 📝
    The P6s will take the same PSLE papers for the four main subjects on the same dates and times as the other P6 students in Singapore. What I always admired is their love and care for the P6 students in terms of their spiritual, mental and physical preparation for the exams. Will share more when the time comes.

    PSLE results? 100% passes for a few years running and mean score has always been above national average, Alhamdulillah. May it continue that way, Aameen!

    📗School hours 🕢
    Assembly begins at 7.30 am but classes start at around 7.55 am. Lessons continue till 2.25 pm with 1 recess break (@ canteen) and 2 snack times (in class). At 2.25 pm, they proceed to the adjacent mosque for Zuhr prayers till about 3pm (on Fridays they join the mosque jamaah for Friday prayers and end the day after that). Yes, the kids are very tired (and hungry) at the end of the day, but as many Madrasah grads would say, these are the things (on top of the many subjects and assessments, and climbing of stairs) that mould them into stronger individuals. I pray the same for my children!

    Of course, the day does not end there when they have after-school activities/enrichment/CCA/remedial.

    They enjoy the same gazetted school and public holidays in Singapore.

    📘National Education 🇸🇬
    Here, students also learn to love their country. One of the chapters in their Arabic textbooks is about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, narrating his achievements in bringing up Singapore. In their annual Social Studies project, there was a year where the P2s did a scrap book on the different kinds of food unique to the different ethnic groups in Singapore. The P3s did on important landmarks/symbols of Singapore and the P4s did on past leaders of Singapore, with the aim of instilling love for the country. During the recently celebrated Racial Harmony Day, there was an inter-class competition which requires each level to decorate the classes according to a certain ethnic group in Singapore. These projects and programmes certainly raised their awareness about the different cultures and races in Singapore.

    📚📚📚🖇🖇🖇📚📚📚📐📐📐📚📚📚
    I hope this sharing creates more awareness on the kind of education our local full-time madrasah students are getting. There are different reasons why Muslim parents may decide to enrol their children in one – mine is a mixture of them all:
    📚To provide them with a holistic education which encompasses Islamic education as well – either to groom them into religious leaders with great foundation in academic knowledge, or into Muslim professionals grounded by their Islamic knowledge.
    📚To allow them to study in an Islamic environment.
    📚To allow them to wear uniform that properly covers what they need to cover once they reach puberty (we prefer to start young though).
    📚To provide them with more options/pathways in education in the future – be it the academic or religious pathway.

    What is clear is that, we have no intention of grooming them into narrow-minded, exclusive citizens or worse, into radicalised Muslims for whatever purpose. With the kind of education they are getting, I am more than confident that they can integrate well with the society and will be important assets to the nation too!

    The above is based on my knowledge of the system as a parent (please do NOT treat this as official info on the Madrasah!) If you are a staff from the Madrasah, pls feel free to comment on any inaccurate information and I’ll gladly edit it. (My apologies for sharing all these without consulting any of you!) While this information may not be representative of the other full time Madrasahs in Singapore, I believe that they largely operate in the same way. At least where the academic subjects are concerned 🙂.

    There are of course many other things about the Madrasah that I may not have shared here, but these are the basic info. May the Almighty continue to bless all Madrasahs with prosperity and progress!

     

    Source: Sri Aisyah

  • Police Currently Investigating Xinmin Primary School “Beginning” Teacher

    Police Currently Investigating Xinmin Primary School “Beginning” Teacher

    Remember the video about the man who got caught taking an upskirt video of a lady on the mrt? He is actually found to be Mr David James Chua a teacher at Xinmin Primary School with the help of internet savvy individuals. A representative from the school Mr Clement Lee has confirmed that David is the man caught on video and that he is also a “beginning teacher” at the said school.

    If you didn’t know, the 2 minutes plus clip shows a man using his mobile phone on board a train and later placing the phone – with the camera facing up – at one end of his duffel bag. He then lowers the bag and briefly moves it close to the legs of a woman in a skirt standing behind him.

    The incident happened along the Circle Line from MacPherson station to Paya Lebar station. A police report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.  PE teacher is also currently on leave from school.

    Ape nak jadi ni siol? And now most people will have this question in their minds.. can we  trust the teachers to guide our children in schools?

     

    Rilek1Corner

     

     

     

  • Damanhuri Abas: High Time Government Treats Madrasahs More Fairly

    Damanhuri Abas: High Time Government Treats Madrasahs More Fairly

    Four of my five children are in Madrasah. They spanned 3 out of the 6 remaining full-time Madrasah still providing valuable service to the Muslim community. The Madrasah is a vital educational institution serving both iconic and strategic value to the interest and identity of the local Muslim community. The recent adjustment to allow Madrasah students to get Students yearly per capita grants for extra-curricular programs are overdue but nonetheless welcomed and helpful.

    Yet decades on, the government is still only making baby steps towards acting as they should to provide equal share of aid to all educational institutions that serves the arduous task to the public of providing learning for our next generation. Just because it is a religious institution that is privately owned do not in any way justify an exclusion from its rightful entitlement for public aid when it is crystal clear that the Madrasah have no profit motives in doing their selfless work for the Muslim community.

    It was only like yesterday when the Muslim community had to rally behind these 6 full-time Madrasah when changes to the education act were made imposing compulsory secular education upon them. By the Grace of God, far from wrapping up, the Madrasah raised up their game and vigorously struggled and came up to speed in meeting the conditions imposed upon them. Backed by a very strong united collective community-driven action, they continued to move forward under severe duress straining and testing them tremendously along the way.

    It was never a level playing field for the 6 surviving full-time Madrasah. Some had to struggle under enormous circumstances to keep the listing institution alive and floating believing in their relevance and value to the community. Financially, the Madrasah were severely tested having to cope with burden of staff salary, operational cost from maintenance, upkeep, etc., to ensuring educationally robust infra-structure within severe spatial constraints to meet the ever changing challenging new educational needs for their students.

    It was nothing short of a miracle that with only the heavily subsidized fees paid by parents which barely covered not more than 30% of operational cost, the deluge of donations from the community became the vital lifeline for the Madrasah over the last few decades until today. But surely this is a great affront to justice, fairness and equality that the 6 Madrasah continue to be denied the equivalent financial support they should have been entitled to like other similar religiously based schools that runs in Singapore providing selfless services to their communities.

    Why does the Government choose to discriminate against the Madrasah by denying their full right to be fully funded as a legitimate educational institution in this country serving the public with no profit motives?

    We can see religious based schools among them the Buddhist based schools such as Manjusri and Maha Bodhi operating in spanking buildings paid for by taxpayers money. We have even huge buildings for Christian based schools from convent schools such as CHIJ to St Andrews, St Joseph and many more with some even sitting on prime sites in various parts of this Island. We then have the race based Chinese schools with its strong Confucious ethics and Chinese identity with the label of SAP schools endowed with even more glorious infra-structure. The only exceptions are our Hindu brethren as the second biggest minority without any religious or ethnic based school.

    The Government must answer for its refusal to give equal treatment like what is accorded to the other religious or ethnic based schools but not to the Madrasah. The past excuses are really unacceptable when we think of the severely imbalanced provision given to the examples of the list of religious and ethnic based schools mentioned above.

    Here the Muslim community had never asked for special provision, it is simply equal, fair and just treatment that we are asking from the Government. There is no justification for the Government not providing all the material support needed by the Madrasah like any other educational institutions that serves the people albeit a designated group in society, the Muslim families who chooses to school their children in the Madrasah.

    The selective arguments that Madrasah is a private school do not hold water. The Madrasah is a private school categorised as Islamic schools in the Ministry of Education apart from other private schools in general and directly under the purview of the Islamic Council of Singapore, MUIS.

    This demarcation shows the unique position of the Madrasah as an essentially Muslim community based school and not a strictly private school with profit motives. How can the Government choose to place the Madrasah on the same status as other profit-driven private schools knowing fully well that they never functioned today as a strictly private entity but exists only as first an Islamic educational service provider for the Muslim community and now fully running national curriculum too?

    The recent news of the merger of JCs leaving potentially unused infra-structure should be good news for the 6 full-time Madrasah as they should have first right of refusal to occupy the premise under subsidized or even rental free occupancy since they were not given any funding or privileges for decades before to build on any land provisioned with the luxury of space conducive and ideal for an educational institution comparable to other national ones or the religious/ethnic based ones mentioned earlier.

    It is overdue that the Government be just and fair to the 4% or less of Muslim students who chooses Madrasah as their choice of school so that the constitutional demands that each Singaporean child be given equal opportunity to access the best education in sufficiently provided space for full holistic learning of the mind and physique be met. This grotesque marginalization of Madrasah and the education it offers must end as it goes against the spirit of our beloved country’s constitution that guarantees equal rights and access to quality education regardless of race, language or religion.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Guru Madrasah Wak Tanjong Raih Keputusan Cemerlang, Ungguli Kohortnya Di Politeknik Republik

    Guru Madrasah Wak Tanjong Raih Keputusan Cemerlang, Ungguli Kohortnya Di Politeknik Republik

    Seramai 13 guru madrasah berjaya meraih Diploma Pakar yang ditawarkan oleh Politeknik Republik.

    Di kalangan 13 guru madrasah itu, Ustazah Sri Nurayu, seorang guru dari Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah, diiktiraf sebagai pelajar yang meraih keputusan cemerlang serta menduduki tempat pertama dalam kohortnya.

    Majlis konvokesyen tersebut diadakan di Pusat Kebudayaan Republik pada 5 Mei lalu.

    Malah, Ustazah Sri Nurayu berkongsi bahawa niatnya menyertai kursus tersebut adalah untuk memperbaiki dirinya demi memberikan pendidikan yang lebih baik dan bermakna buat para pelajar-pelajarnya.

    “Sejujurnya, untuk mengimbangi ketiga-tiga perkara ini bukanlah mudah buat saya, lebih-lebih lagi apabila perlu mengejar tarikh akhir (deadlines) di tempat kerja dan juga tugasan kerja kursus (coursework assignments) yang perlu dihantar pada tempoh yang ditetapkan.

    “Bagaimanapun, saya bersyukur mempunyai suami, keluarga dan penyelia (supervisor) yang sangat memahami dan sentiasa memberikan sokongan sepanjang pengajian saya ini,” katanya, yang sebelum ini mendapat pendidikan di Universiti al-Azhar.

    Program selama 11 bulan itu, adalah salah satu daripada usaha Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) yang menaja guru-guru madrasah secara individu untuk menjalani kursus Diploma Pakar bagi Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran Gunaan (SDALT) di politeknik tersebut.

    Kementerian Pendidikan (MOE) juga memberikan subsidi bagi program berkenaan.

    SDALT yang dianjurkan bagi guru-guru madrasah Singapura itu turut menawarkan lapan modul yang mengiktiraf mereka dengan dua sijil iaitu, (i) Sijil Pos Diploma dalam Amalan Pengajaran dan (ii) Sijil Pos Diploma dalam Membentuk Kurikulum dan Penilaian.

    Sejurus selepas guru-guru madrasah tersebut tamat menjalani kedua-dua kursus itu, mereka akan diberikan sijil Diploma Pakar dalam Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran Gunaan (SDALT).

    Ustaz Mohd Nasrullah, yang menjalani kursus tersebut bersama isterinya, Ustazah Sri Nurayu, turut berkata bahawa kesemua modul yang diambilnya sangat menarik dan bermanfaat.

    Ini kerana modul-modul tersebut boleh diamalkan dalam kerjayanya dan kehidupan secara umumnya.

    (Gambar-gambar: MUIS)

    “Pada penghujung modul, kami dapat lihat bahawa setiap modul memberikan tumpuan yang sangat spesifik dan sekaligus memberikan satu gambaran yang menyeluruh supaya kita sebagai guru peka akan setiap langkah yang kita lakukan ketika mendidik pelajar-pelajar di sekolah.

    “Dengan ini juga, ia semacam sesi muhasabah bagi diri saya kerana ia membangunkan kelemahan yang perlu saya perbaiki sebagai seorang guru,” katanya yang kini mengajar di Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah.

    Menurut kenyataan media MUIS, guru-guru madrasah daripada kesemua enam madrasah sepenuh masa itu ditaja pihaknya bagi mengikuti program SDALT.

    Program tersebut juga bertujuan untuk melengkapi guru-guru madrasah dengan kelayakan pengajaran profesional, kecekapan dan pengetahuan terkini dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran.

    Sejak tahun 2008, MUIS membelanjakan lebih $3 juta bagi latihan guru yang merangkumi kedua-dua program berstruktur yang dianjurkan dengan kerjasama NIE dan ECU, bengkel dan seminar.

    MUIS turut menyokong pembangunan kepimpinan dan menaja ketua-ketua jabatan madrasah bagi mengikuti program Pengurusan dan Kepimpinan di Sekolah-Sekolah (MLS) yang ditawarkan NIE setiap tahun.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • 30 Year Old Trainee Teacher, Yusrina Ya’akob, Is First Ever Female Malay Singaporean To Reach Everest’s Summit

    30 Year Old Trainee Teacher, Yusrina Ya’akob, Is First Ever Female Malay Singaporean To Reach Everest’s Summit

    Trainee teacher Yusrina Ya’akob has become the first Singaporean to summit Mount Everest this year after she reached the top of the world’s highest mountain on Monday (May 22), expedition company Everquest Expeditions confirmed.

    The 30-year-old successfully climbed a dizzying height of 8,848m above sea level at 9.40am on Monday, after more than 50 days of trekking.

    For Ms Yusrina, the feat is especially sweet after her failed attempt to summit Everest in 2015, which was meant to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence. She was one of the leading members of the Aluminaid Team Singapura Everest 2015 which had to abandon the climb halfway following a powerful earthquake that struck Nepal.

    For this year’s attempt, Ms Yusrina teamed up with Singaporean climbers Jeremy Tong and Dr Arjunan Saravana Pillai. The trio’s expedition is supported by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National Institute of Education (NIE).

    Mr Tong and Dr Saravana, who were both attempting to summit Everest for the first time, were unable to reach the top as they were both unwell.

     

    Ms Yusrina started her summit push from Everest’s base camp last Thursday and reached the top one day ahead of schedule after taking advantage of good weather conditions.

     

    Before her latest expedition, Ms Yusrina told Channel NewsAsia that she embarked on this second attempt because she wanted to “face the mountain again”.

    “I would not have been able to get over it (the disappointment) if I did not try again … because the situation that forced us to abort our expedition was not because of a lack of ability but a natural disaster,” she added.

    With her triumph, Ms Yusrina has become the first female Malay Singaporean to conquer Everest.

    Editor’s note: The article originally stated that Ms Yusrina was the first Singaporean to summit Mount Everest since 2009. This was wrong. Pilot Felix Tan had conquered the mountain last May. We apologise for the error. 

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com