WHY A different approach is needed
To make children’s educational experiences more culturally appropriate, different communities have attempted different solutions. Muslim communities have largely resorted to faith-based schools and home-schooling.
Unfortunately, both approaches have some shortcomings.
Muslim Schools
Many Muslim schools do not adequately address sensitive topics in a culturally appropriate manner while others may act indifferent to cultural context. Some of these schools are very lax about Halal dietary requirements while others enforce a culturally insensitive dress code. One school even mandates the wearing of ties yet excludes students who choose to wear niqab.
If more than one sibling is enrolled in the same school, some schools require all siblings to leave should the parents wish to take one child out for HIFZ! While some others reject home-schooled Hafidh students altogether regardless of their academic performance. Some of these schools arbitrarily exclude students with below-average performance in pursuit of higher school rankings.
Home-schooling
Home-schooling, on the other hand, can lead to issues of academic under-performance. Parents are often too busy and/or lack the academic ability, initiative and experience to contribute meaningfully to their children’s education. Some parents are unable and others are reluctant to dedicate sufficient financial resources to their children’s education. The combination of these factors can be particularly detrimental to a child’s academic journey.
Home-schooling support centres are limited in the number of hours they can offer due to financial constraints. Many also resort to cramming 7-8 hours of continuous instruction into a single day. This method overburdens students and is ineffective in helping students retain the material taught.
Consequently, many home-schooled children, particularly Hifz students, lag academically to the point where they cannot gain admission to a Muslim private school after completing their Hifz studies.
Huffaz of Qur’an
Huffaz, who do not qualify for entry to a Muslim private school, usually have no option but to enrol in the public school system. In such a scenario, these students are exposed to inappropriate content not befitting their status as a Hafiz of Quran. Neither public schools nor Muslim private schools offer accommodating concessions for these students’ Tarawih and Imamah responsibilities during Ramadan. As a result, many Hifz graduates end up not leading Taraweeh prayers until the completion of their HSC. This can undo many years of memorisation which some students may never recover from.