Madrasah educators play an important role in the academic, social-emotional and spiritual development of our students. They play an integral role in building the educational foundation of our future asatizah. They hold the key to widening our students’ horizons and guiding them to success. Their passion and dedication to nurture young minds have helped and will continue to build a strong desire to learn in our madrasah students. Students are equipped with essential skills, competencies and sound values to prepare them to become asatizah in the 21st century. Their contributions today will help shape the socio-religious landscape of our community in the near future. Recognising this, Muis will continue to invest and provide our educators with necessary support they need so that they are continuously well-attuned with the latest developments in educational landscape.
Resources have been made available to increase the professional capabilities of our educators in the 6 full-time madrasahs. These resources are targeted at the development of areas such as expanding of their pedagogical repertoire and honing of their pedagogical content knowledge.
Each madrasah has its own unique pedagogical philosophy and framework. As such, Muis will continue to provide resources for school-based training. Prior to April 2017, a teacher development grant of $15,000 per annum was given to each of the 6 full-time madrasahs, sourced from Dana Madrasah. Starting from April 2017, Muis provides a capitation grant of $1,000 per annum for every eligible full-time teacher. With this grant, it is hoped that madrasah teachers will feel more empowered to undertake relevant and beneficial courses and programmes.
The areas of development for the madrasah-based training programmes fall under the following categories:
(i) Pedagogical Competencies
(ii) Assessment Literacy
(iii) Subject Matter and Curriculum Planning
(iv) Personal Effectiveness & Productivity
(v) Motivation
The Madrasah sector is small, consisting of approximately 250 teachers. Hence, there is value in a centrally coordinated training plan to complement the school-based initiatives. The five Muis-led key thrusts for teacher development are:
(i) Leadership & Management
(ii) Teaching Accreditation
(iii) Skillful Teacher Programme
(iv) Madrasah Technological Development
(v) Key Trainings for PSLE and GCE 'O' Levels
The financial incentive scheme is to reward the eligible Madrasah teachers hard work by improving the salary of the Madrasah teaching force. It also recognises and rewards eligible madrasah teachers who possesses a recognised teaching certification.
The Teachers Training Support Grant aims to further upgrade the skillsets of eligible madrasah teachers by continually ensuring that the Madrasah teachers get the trainings they require.