Nestled in this sleepy hillside town of Kampar in the Malaysian state of
Perak is an Islamic homeschool like no other.
Islamic homeschools are known
locally as pondok schools. The word "pondok" is Malay for hut, and
religious teachers conduct lessons in small huts.
But the Darul Huffaz Academy,
which means House of Quran Readers in Arabic, operates out of five shop spaces.
It provides month- long camps for 400 Muslim children from the ages of nine to
19 during the school holidays.
It is one of the few modern
Islamic schools around, with computer classes and laundry services. Prospective
campers are screened for their Quranic proficiency before admission.
"I want to raise a
progressive, Muslim community that is relevant to society," said principal
Ahmad Mahfuz. "They will not only be the best in reading and understanding
the Quran, but also be the most competent engineers, lawyers and doctors."
Modern or old-fashioned,
thousands of pondok schools are scattered across Malaysia. They operate outside
the purview of the education ministry, get no government funding and run on
donations.
That may soon change. The
government recently launched a programme called 1Malaysia Pondok Development
Foundation, which aims to register all pondok schools in the country under an
umbrella.
The foundation will be run by
non-governmental organisations and advised by a deputy minister in the Prime
Minister's Department, with Prime Minister Najib Razak himself as the patron.
Mashitah Ibrahim, deputy minister
in the Prime Minister's Department, said the foundation will collect
information on the schools' activities and give financial assistance to
excellent rural students to further their studies.
But teachers like Mahfuz are
sceptical. The schools are widely perceived to be aligned with the opposition
Parti Islam SeMalaysia, and they worry that the government is trying to rein in
the opposition's influence.
Mahfuz insists that the pondok
schools, in principle, are not politically partisan, though religious teachers
are influential community figures.
"What the religious teachers
are outspoken about are issues like corruption, which the religion is
against," Mahfuz said. "We don't have time to spread political
teachings, as we are preoccupied with the Quran."
Pondok schools were the earliest
form of schools in Malaysia, existing even before British rule. Their main
function was to provide religious education to Muslim children. While some have
evolved to follow the national school curriculum alongside Islamic education,
many pondok schools in the villages still adopt a teaching method inherited
centuries ago.
Muslim parents like to send their
children to pondok schools for a few hours after the regular school day.
Students pay no fees, but help with chores such as cooking and cleaning.
If the federal government indeed
wants to keep closer tabs on pondok schools, they may not find it easy. Islamic
matters are after all under the jurisdiction of the state, not federal,
government.
"The foundation will help
streamline some management issues in religious education, but the federal
government cannot impose what pondok schools can teach or cannot teach,"
said Professor Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid, deputy vice- chancellor of INTI
International University.
Siti Suriani Sulaiman, a mother
of four, sends two of her daughters, aged 12 and 10, to the Darul Huffaz
Academy for intensive Quranic studies, even though they are already attending
religious schools.
"I don't want them to be
slack during the holidays," she told The Straits Times.
"It is the duty of parents
to ensure that our children get the best guidance in Islamic education,"
she added. "I believe my children are in good hands."
Yong Yen Nie
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