THE SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION

Curriculum Reform for the Pondoks in Southeast Asia

15,000,000 yen [Grant Project]
Prateepsasana Islamic School (Thailand)

Antagonism between religions centering around monotheistic faith is far from being a new phenomenon. Yet the scope of influence of religious antagonism expands further and yet further geographically as well as personally as globalization progresses. From a long-term standpoint, in a bid to mitigate the antagonism it is necessary to keep alive dialogues to promote understanding of others while respecting a religious domain. A forum for such dialogues is in demand. While Islamic seminaries serve as venues for nurturing Islamic jurists mullah and possess strong influence within Islamic societies, some of them are also said to have been turned into breeding grounds of radicals.
Taking advantage of the SPF's network in Southeast Asia, the project intends to contribute to the provision of secular education in the Islamic schools in Southern Thailand. It will offer venues for curriculum revisions in light of how such education can be best provided, and will strive to build up capabilities of teachers in the Islamic schools. Curriculum development committees, investigation of surrounding nations and workshops targeting at instructors in Islamic schools will be implemented.

The following activities are planned in the first year of the project.

Curriculum Development in the Islamic Schools
(1) Establish and Convene Curriculum Development Committee (Nakorn Sri Thammarat)
A Curriculum Development Committee consisting of 12 instructors of Islamic schools in Southern Thailand will be installed, with 6 sessions following in the course of this year, with a view to examining existing curricula, proposing revisions and promoting the revised curricula for adoption.

(2) Investigations in Neighboring Countries (7 days, Singapore/Malaysia)
Interviews will be conducted with the Ministries of Education, universities and Islamic schools in the adjacent countries so as to grasp the current status and to hear their opinions.
Workshops for Islamic School Teachers (August/September 2007, January 2008, Nakorn Sri Thammarat)
Workshops will be given to 50 teachers from 30 Islamic schools in ten cities in Southern provinces of Thailand, pedagogy being amongst the main themes to be covered. Understanding of scientific and rational view of the world as well as value systems will be promoted.

(First year of a 3-year project)