May 14, 2009

Making Asatidz Mainstream: NIPS Tackles Education Problems of Muslim Filipino Children

“How can we bring more Muslim Filipino children to school and have them graduate?” That was the question posed by Juan Miguel “Mike” Luz, National Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS) executive vice president for policy research, at a consultative meeting with 24 asatidz (Arabic teachers) and madrasah (school) administrators from several cities in Metro Manila. NIPS wanted to discover why there are fewer enrollments from Muslim households and faster drop out rates.

Hosted by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty at its office in Makati on 14 May 2009, NIPS gathered the participants to learn their views in its effort to create an education policy that addresses the needs of Muslim Filipino children.

Participants explained that in their areas most children attend public school during the week and then return on the weekends for madrasah. There is no integration of a madrasah curriculum (except in some schools in Quezon City where these are funded by the local government) in the public schools. This is because the Department of Education (DepEd) does not consider asatidz as regular teachers.

The DepEd recognizes as teachers those who pass a licensure exam (LET) and hold college degrees and18 units of education. Unfortunately, many asatidz because of their specialized training are not equipped to pass this. However they do need to pass an Arabic language qualifying exam (NAQE) to teach. Participants thus proposed that the DepEd honor the NAQE as a substitute for the LET in order to absorb asatidz into its system. The integration of asatidz and their acceptance as regular teachers will go a long way in meeting the needs of Muslim Filipino children and allow them an equal opportunity to excel.