This Zamboanga Journal photograph of a Muslim schoolgirl holding patiently replicas of Philippine and U.S. flags is taken last year during a humanitarian mission by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) / Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills or EQuALLS project in Lamitan town in Basilan island in the southern Philippines.
The prestigious U.S.-Based Creative Associates International Inc., has the photo for its main feature page about the USAID-EQuALLS projects Mindanao.
EQuALLS: Implementing a Standard Curriculum, Helping Muslim Students Achieve Academic Excellence
As millions of Filipino children and youths returned to school to resume their studies of math, science, English and Filipino language, about 92,000 others filed into Islamic community schools where the curriculum has, until recently, focused exclusively on the study of the Koran, Islamic subjects and the Arabic language.
The Muslim community schools, called a madrasah or madaris (for the plural), vary in size and quality. Of the approximately 1,100 that exist, several dozen are full-time learning institutions where the basic course of study, up to the secondary level, takes 12 years.
Hundreds more are informal schools where students are taught for a few hours on weekends in such makeshift classrooms as a mosque, a community hall, or the exterior of a village's Islamic scholar's home.
Although Islamic schools are found in many areas of the country, including urban centers like metropolitan Manila and Cebu, the single largest number, some 440 madaris, are found in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The Madaris, however, compelled by government orders, are increasingly complying with the adoption of a standard curriculum.
The nation's leading educators, both religious and secular, are starting to appreciate the fact that all students, whether attending a madrasah or a public school, deserve a well-rounded basic education.
Too many youths in Muslim Mindanao are denied quality basic educations, leading to deplorable consequences including illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, frustration and despair.
“The aim is to have a [madrasah] curriculum that is relevant, total and balanced, in answer to the aspirations of Filipinos who want to be good Muslims and good citizens of the Republic,” said Salipada Tamano, president of the National Federation of Associations of Madaris and a former ARMM secretary of education.
In 2004, the issuance of Executive Order 13 of the office of the ARMM regional government and Memorandum Order 51 of the Department of Education, provided a standard curriculum for privately-operated madaris, incorporating the regular education subjects of English, math, science, Filipino and civics into the traditional madrasah curriculum.
“Every country has a universal educational system that serves as a basis for national unity,” says Manaros Boransing, Undersecretary for Muslim Affairs in the Department of Education. “In this regard, the provision of the standard curriculum is a positive development for madaris.”
The Department of Education is being assisted in building the capacity of madaris to implement the standard curriculum by donor organizations, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Australia Agency for International Development (AusAID), which assisted in the preparation of the curriculum and training modules in Department of Education subjects for the asatitha, or teachers, in Arabic.
A consultative workshop on the implementation of the standard curriculum for this school year recently was held in Davao city by ARMM Department of Education officials, Islamic educators, and operators of private madaris, with the support of the Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) project.
EQuALLS is funded by USAID and implemented by Creative Associates International Inc., in partnership with the Department of Education, local NGOs, local foundations, and private sector institutions.
Workshop topics ranged from the conceptual framework for madaris to practical considerations, such as financial sustainability, formal recognition and accreditation of these institutions, and training in the teaching of Department of Education subjects.
In the ARMM, the majority of the madaris serve poor communities where they may be the only schools for children and youths. After having completed their studies, however, and lacking a thorough grounding in basic subjects, even the most motivated and intelligent madrasah students who move into public high schools experience difficulties.
Students not only lack instruction in basic subjects, but also the secondary education curriculum is bilingual in Filipino and English, and madrasah students are unprepared in both languages, making it near impossible for them keep up with classes. Unable to complete high school, students find it almost impossible to get into universities or other tertiary-level schools accredited by the Department of Education.
“With only an Arabic language background, our students get stuck when they apply to enter college,” said Arpah Datudacula, who administers the Nurul Huda Al-Islamiah, a madrasah in Malabang, Lanao del Sur.
Without high-school or college educations, young people face fewer job prospects and limited options to improve their social and economic status. The lack of a secondary education produces a domino effect which not only leaves thousands of Mindanao's youths unemployed but has also led to increased levels of anger, frustration and crime in the region.
With support from the EQuALLS project, fifteen madaris have begun implementing the standard curriculum on a pilot basis. Half of these have made arrangements with a nearby public school to exchange teachers for a few hours per week.
The public school teacher will provide first-grade madrasah students with instruction in the standard public school curriculum. The other madaris are experimenting with a different approach, training madrasah teachers to conduct basic education classes.
“The involvement of public school teachers in mentoring madrasah teachers creates a link with the public schools, making it more possible for madrasah students to take equivalency or placement exams in order to transfer to public schools at a later point in the education cycle,” says Dr. Tom Kral, chief of the USAID Office of Education in Manila.
According to Moner Bajunaid, an Islamic education specialist based at Creative Associates' project office in Cotabato City, the pilot project appears to be a simple step, but it is a highly significant one for Islamic educators opening their doors to the Philippine education system.
“This is the first time that the national language [Filipino] is being taught in Mindanao madaris,” said Bajunaid. “Considering longstanding fears and cultural biases in Mindanao that date back to the Spanish regime, this is a breakthrough.”
“Among Philippine madaris, the idea of bringing in the Department of Education basic curriculum is in the process of becoming universally acceptable,” says Boransing. “The main problems lie in implementation, and this is where the international donors are being helpful.” (EQuALLS project staff)
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