Country’s first public madrasah opens in Cotabato

LAUNCHING Bangsamoro officials and guests troop to this four-level school building of the country’s first public madrasah (Islamic school) in Barangay Datu Balabaran, Cotabato City, during its formal launching on Friday, ahead of the opening of classes this week. —photo courtesy of Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — At least 1,500 students trooped to the country’s first public madrasah, or Islamic school, which opened at the newly built four-story building in Barangay Datu Balabaran here on Monday, the first day of classes for all private and government learning institutions nationwide.

Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal said the madrasah offers core Islamic subjects that includes studies on the Quran, “seerah” (life of the Prophet), hadith (prophetic narrations), “aqeedah” (Islamic creed), “fiqh” (Islamic jurisprudence) and the Arabic language, all of which have been integrated into the Department of Education’s (DepEd) “Matatag” curriculum.

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“The public madrasah is not only teaching Islam but also gives quality education so that our students will be at par with other students under the DepEd curriculum,” Iqbal said.

He added that the madrasah would not only accept Islam believers but would also welcome people from other faiths who would like to learn more about Islam.

Monawara Salik, appointed as the madrasah school head, welcomed the students on the first day of school on Monday.

Education code

Before the opening of the new school, madrasah teaching used to be confined only in the house of an Islamic teacher or in the masjid (mosque) until it was strengthened as part of the Mindanao peace process.

As stipulated in the Bangsamoro Education Code, the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) ensured the creation of its own school division offices and the appointment of the MBHTE director general for “madaris” education, or a curriculum that revolves around Islamic studies and Arabic language.

“Before we established this, we studied it comprehensively before the education code was approved,” Iqbal said.

Tahir Nalg, MBHTE director general for madaris education, said the newly built school could accommodate about 2,000 students from kindergarten to senior high school.

He said government support, including financial aid from the national government, would make the present-day madaris education better than before.

“Upon the advent of BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), our lawmakers have prioritized the madrasah,” he said.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao assured the city government’s full support in the implementation of the public madrasah in the city.

Cotabato City is an independent component city in the BARMM and the regional government and economic center of the Bangsamoro.

Bangsamoro Transition Authority Parliament Member Ibrahim Ali called the public madaris a legacy of BARMM leaders who led the transition government that passed the Bangsamoro Education Code.