ALKHOBAR, 3 October 2005 — Filipino schools in the Middle East will soon be asked to introduce the new Philippine curriculum which includes the Arabic language and Islamic values, a visiting education official fromManila has said.
Undersecretary Manaros Boransing, who is responsible for Mindanao affairs, said the new curriculum is prescribed under Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 51 series of 2004, which provides for the integration of the madrasa curriculum into the Philippine system of education.
Although it is discretionary on the school management if they want to implement the new curriculum, Filipino schools in the Kingdom should have no problem carrying it out since the Saudi Ministry of Education requires the teaching of Arabic and Islamic values to foreign students, Boransing said.
“This could be very well integrated into the curriculum of Filipino schools in the Kingdom,” he said in a meeting with community members last weekend.
Boransing was in Alkhobar last Friday to conduct an ocular inspection at the Al-Andalus International School (AAIS), which is seeking accreditation from the DepEd to teach the Philippine educational curriculum. Boransing is also part of the Philippine delegation in a joint commission meeting with senior Saudi education officials to discuss the new DepEd policy. The meeting was held in Riyadh yesterday.
Signed last year by former Education Secretary Edilberto de Jesus, the new curriculum is to be carried out in two parts.
The first one provides for the inclusion of the Arabic language and Islamic values into the basic education in elementary school.
Boransing said this has already started this school year throughout the Philippines for Muslim students in public schools. Learning materials are being prepared and Muslim teachers in public schools are now being trained for the purpose, he said.
The second part entails the establishment of private madrasas, which would be similar to schools run by Catholic and Protestant churches and Chinese institutions.
The basic secular education of English, math, science, Filipino and makabayan will be taught in addition to the Islamic education, which would include the Qur’an, Shariah and Hadith.
“These private madrasas will be similar to other schools that teach the same Philippine curriculum but are Islam-friendly,” Boransing said. “This, hopefully, will help usher in permanent peace in our country.”
The Philippine government had been battling separatist groups seeking to establish an independent Islamic state in the country’s south for decades.
