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Private Islamic schools gaining popularity in Malaysia as parents seek ‘best of both worlds’

KUALA LUMPUR — While some believe that segregating and educating children according to race and religion is not healthy for multiracial Malaysia, parents and educators at such schools argue that they keep the young and impressionable away from extremist ideology, such as that espoused by groups like the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS). Students in some of these schools also have a relatively good command of English, mainly due to their family backgrounds, where English is widely spoken at home.

Photo: The Malaysian Insider

Photo: The Malaysian Insider

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KUALA LUMPUR — While some believe that segregating and educating children according to race and religion is not healthy for multiracial Malaysia, parents and educators at such schools argue that they keep the young and impressionable away from extremist ideology, such as that espoused by groups like the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS). Students in some of these schools also have a relatively good command of English, mainly due to their family backgrounds, where English is widely spoken at home.

Another distinguishing factor was the high level of parent involvement, from raising funds to helping the teaching staff with school activities. The Malaysian Insider visited two schools under the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia, after hearing about the popularity of private Islamic schools at a recent forum on private education. Ms Halimatul Mohamed, 48, said she chose to send her children to Sekolah Al-Amin in Gombak, Selangor, as she wanted them to have a balance in religious and academic education. “This school has the balance, and as we went along, we fell in love with the system, where the parents and teachers cooperate to help the students excel,” she said in an interview.

Her friend, Ms Zanariah Ibrahim, 52, agreed, saying it was better for their children to be in school for nine hours than to be in a government school where they would only spend half the day before to a different school for religious classes for another few hours.

“It’s tiring for them if they have to go up and down like that. This type of schools integrate both, and it is convenient for working parents,” she added.

Another parent, Ms Rokiah Abdul Rahman, 58, said she had no regrets for her children and also hopes her grandchildren will attend a school like Al-Amin.

Ms Rokiah, an alumnus from the Malacca Girls High School, added that one trademark among students from private religious schools was they remained close knit even after growing up and getting married.

Ms Halimatul agreed, adding that that there was also a close bond between parents and teachers, who would get together to undertake projects and activities.

“On weekends, we try to help teachers in whatever way we can.

“For instance when they have the SPM workshops and extra classes, we would provide the food, so that the teachers can concentrate on teaching,” said Ms Halimatul, who studied in Main Convent, Ipoh.

Al-Amin secondary school principal, Norma Mohamad, said many parents were eager to send their kids here, but the school had to turn away at least half of them after an entrance exam.

Most parents were middle income earners, and just a few from the low-income category who were supported by the school’s fund for the underprivileged.

Mr Norma said the school adhered to a strict timetable, requiring teachers to finish teaching the government syllabus by July, after which they would start their intensive revision classes.

“The whole school’s timetable is re-jigged from July to factor in the revision classes and we have activities planned almost every weekend, whether it’s extra classes or outdoor activities for students, leaning towards community service projects and nature-based activities such as mountain climbing.”

Most of their teachers looking after the school’s more 760 students were graduates from the International Islamic University (IIU), who were competent academically as well as knowledgeable in Islam, the principal said.

Apart from the education syllabus, students are also tested on Islamic knowledge at various stages, where the passing mark is set relatively high.

A bulwark against ISIS

Mr Khalil Jali, the CEO of ABIM’s Sekolah Sri Seremban, dismisses the notion that children from Islamic schools will grow up to have extremist tendencies.

Confidently, he tells The Malaysian Insider that none of his over 1,000 students would ever end up fighting for ISIS.

“To us, those who end up with Isis are deviationists, they have deviated from the true teachings of Islam, and what we teach them here is essentially to avoid that.

“I cannot imagine any of my students ending up in ISIS, because here we talk about respect and co-existence,” he said.

Ms Norma from Al-Amin school said that talks were held once a month for students to address topical issues such as the ongoing conflict in Syria.

“We talk to them about what is happening in Syria, and emphasise the need to set a good example as Muslims, and stress that we are against any form of violence,” Ms Norma said.

This was one of the main reasons why Ms Khayrana Pilus, 41, opted to send her two sons, aged 12 and 9.

For her, religious education is more important than academic excellence.

Her younger child, a daughter, has just sat for the entrance exam for the Standard One intake next year.

“I want my children to be able to differentiate between the true and false teachings of Islam and I feel they would be able to do that by learning about religion here.

“I really hope my kids will never get mixed up with extremists and more importantly, they will be good and true Muslims.

“I know there are no guarantees, but as a parent, I must arm them with the knowledge they will need in their future,” Ms Khayrana said.

Mr Khalil, who was trained as an accountant, left the corporate world to help build the network of religious schools under the Abim umbrella together with a group of friends from the corporate and professional sector back in the mid-1980s.

He said the main emphasis of the school was on religion and character building, and academic achievement would be a by-product of that.

He felt students in government schools could not excel, not because they were unable to study, but because they were surrounded by too many distractions.

“If we can manage the distractions, they can be very focussed, and we manage this here through religious teaching.

“And they spend long hours here, by the time they leave school, it is late and there is no time to go out,” he said.

“Here, we emphasise leadership qualities, where we teach our kids that they must learn to lead themselves first and foremost,” he added.

More than 20 years ago, Muslim friends chided him for sending his own children to a religious school, and teased him about wanting his children to become “ustaz” (religious teachers) when they grew up.

“That was then, when the impression was if you sent your kids to a religious school, you were limiting their future potential as they would end up as religious teachers at most.

“Today, people are asking me how to get their children into religious schools as spaces are limited,” Mr Khalil said.

Picking the right students, and parents

Students wanting to attend the Al-Amin and Sri Seremban schools have to sit an entrance exam, which tests them religious knowledge.

The test requires basic knowledge of Islam and the Quran to score a pass, with nearly half the applicants being rejected every year, said Mr Khalil.

Class space is also limited to 30 students, he added.

Parents are also assessed – they are asked their “true motives” in wanting to send their children to the school.

“If they are only looking at us as a daycare, we are not keen. We need parents to follow up with our programmes at home, and therefore we interview them to see if their motives gel with our objective,” he said.

Parents are also told from the onset that fees, which range from RM350 (S$113) to RM400 a month, only cover the main costs of paying teachers and providing meals.

He found parents “amazingly” generous in helping the school financially by giving funds for other needs.

“We just completed our astro turf for the school field which cost RM1.5 million where all the money came from parents’ contributions.

“And to complete an additional block of classrooms, we collected RM4 million in 18 months and got this done in 2011.

“So that is another thing we look for when we accept students, whether their parents understand the concept of sharing responsibility,” he said, adding that ABIM members get a preference in enrolment.

As part of expansion plans, the school has put a deposit on a site about 8km away from its current location, with long-term plans to build another school costing RM20 million to RM25 million.

ABIM also runs 23 private primary and secondary schools.

Mr Khalil said not long ago, an elderly woman not connected to the school donated RM10,000 in cash.

“She came up to me and said I heard you are looking for funds, I rather give this to the school than to the mosque, and left RM10,000 on the table,” he added.

Khalil said that in the past, he had often heard about how successful Chinese schools were in raising funds through donations and finally realised that Islamic schools could do it too.

“So when people now ask me where I get money from, I say it just drops from the sky”. MALAYSIAN INSIDER

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