Special COVID-19 disbursement for madrasahs

1. The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) is pleased to disburse a special COVID-19 disbursement of $500,000 to the 6 full-time madrasahs¹. This one-off disbursement, in view of the challenges faced by the madrasah sector during the ongoing pandemic, will go towards supporting the madrasahs' student programs. About 3,500² madrasah students will benefit from this support.

Background

2. As private schools, madrasahs rely heavily on the support of the community. Madrasahs are supported through school fees and grants from various sources such as the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund (MBMF), Baitulmal, Zakat, Dana Madrasah, Wakaf Ilmu and government funding³. These mostly go towards madrasahs' manpower and training expenses. Madrasahs regularly undertake fundraising to supplement the shortfall for the school operational and student program needs.

3. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, madrasahs had to suspend or cancel several external fundraising events. It was also more difficult for donors to come physically to the madrasahs to donate. This has resulted in a substantial shortfall in revenue from typical fundraising sources and donation drives, such as collection during Friday congregational prayers. In addition, the implementation of safe management measures at the madrasahs has increased their operational costs.

Community's support to OurMadrasah.sg

4. In view of this, MUIS had earlier worked with the madrasahs to develop and launch the OurMadrasah.sg portal on 4 Dec 2020. Over the last few weeks, about $50,000 has already been raised through online donations. MUIS would like to thank those who have come forward to contribute, and invite the community to continue to support our madrasahs in the coming new academic year, by donating at www.OurMadrasah.sg. Donors will be able to choose the madrasah they wish to donate to or to a general pool where their donation will be distributed across all madrasahs.

Special disbursement

5. This one-off support for the 6 full time madrasahs will be used for madrasahs' student programs based on each madrasah's needs. The allocation for each madrasah is listed in Annex A. The quantum is based on the enrolment size of each madrasah.

6. Mr Esa Masood, Chief Executive of MUIS, said:

"As key institutions for the Muslim Community in Singapore, our madrasah leaders,teachers and students have adapted well to the challenging situation over the past year and have continued to perform well. This disbursement signifies MUIS' continued support for our madrasahs. We urge the community to rally together and continue to stand in solidarity with our madrasahs so that they can continue the important work to nurture the next generation of asatizah to guide our community."

Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura

¹ The 6 full-time madrasahs are Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah, Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah, Madrasah Al Arabiah Al-Islamiah, Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah, Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah and Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah.
² Data from Madrasah returns in June 2020.
³ This specifically covers Edusave and teacher development for secular subjects (See Prime Minister’s speeches at 2013 and 2015 National Day Rally respectively).

Annex A - Allocation of the one-off COVID-19 Support for Student Programs in Madrasahs [PDF, 77 KB]