Speech by Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim at the Progress Fund Madrasah Assistance Scheme (PROMAS) Disbursement Ceremony
SATURDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2015 AT MADRASAH WAK TANJONG AL-ISLAMIAH
Ketua Eksekutif MUIS, Haji Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar
Mudir and Mudirah Madrasah yang dihormati
Para ibu bapa serta anak-anak yang dikasihi
Sidang hadirin sekalian
- Skim PROMAS ataupun Skim Bantuan Kewangan Madrasah merupakan skim yang menggunakan zakat untuk membantu melegakan perbelanjaan sekolah seperti yuran, makanan, pengangkutan serta program-program peningkatan. Sejak diperkenalkan pada tahun 2010,hampir $2.3 juta telah diagihkan kepada keenam-enam madrasah.Tahun lalu seramai 361 pelajar madrasah telah meraih manfaat daripada skim PROMAS. Saya gembira bahawa tahun ini Muis akan mengagihkan jumlah sebanyak $360,000.
- Hari ini kami juga akan memberi Anugerah Prestasi PROMAS kepada 48 pelajar madrasah yang menunjukkan kecemerlangan akhlak serta pencapaian akademik meskipun perlu mengharungi cabarancabaran.Skim ini, yang kami mulakan pada tahun 2014, bertujuan memberi penghargaan kepada pelajar-pelajar berjaya ini. Merekamerupakan contoh dan tauladan yang menghayati nilai-nilai kesungguhan, ketabahan, daya tahan dan dedikasi.
- Alhamdulillah, bilangan penerima Anugerah Prestasi PROMAS pada tahun ini telah meningkat berbanding dengan 26 pelajar pada tahun tahun lepas. Saya amat bersyukur di atas kemajuan dan peningkatan jumlah penerima anugerah tahun ini. Insya-Allah saya yakin dengan sokongan yang diberikan para ibu bapa serta masyarakat,ramai akan meraih keputusan yang lebih baik kelak. Syabas saya ucapkan kepada para penerima anugerah. Kini, izinkan saya untuk meneruskan ucapan dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
- Thank you all for joining us at this PROMAS awards today. Allow me to begin by congratulating all students present today for achieving good results and for performing to the best of your abilities. I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the principals, teachers and parents, who have provided such strong support to our madrasah students.
- PROMAS or The Progress Fund Madrasah Assistance Scheme is a key financial assistance scheme for our six full-time madrasahs and students. Muis launched PROMAS under the Zakat Progress Fund in 2010 to assist full-time madrasah students whose families are receiving financial assistance. Under the scheme, a student’s school expenses such as fees, meals, transportation and enrichment programmes are provided for by PROMAS.
- I am happy to announce that this year a total of $360,000 will be extended to students in all six full-time madrasahs. This means that a total of $2.3 million has been disbursed for PROMAS between 2010 and 2015.
- In addition to PROMAS, Muis introduced the PROMAS Performance Award 2014 that recognises students who have shown exemplary character and maintained good academic performance despite facing various challenges. This year, we have 48 deserving recipients of the award, 22 more than in 2014.
- One of them is 13-year old Iradah Binte Abu Bakar of Madrasah Al-Arabiah. Iradah is one of four school-going children in the family. Her family faced financial difficulties in 2014 when their sole breadwinner became unemployed. Despite the challenges she faced, Iradah dedicated her time and focused on her studies, participates in archery as a CCA, on top of a long daily commute, and making time for all her homework.
- I am told that Iradah dreams of becoming an engineer or an inventor, following in the footsteps of her brother Fairus Sholihin bin Abu Bakar, an alumnus of Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah who is currently in his final year in NTU pursuing a Bachelor in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Iradah has said before, “To realise that dream, I know that I have to be serious about my studies. I want to be somebody who can invent things that will make life easier for other people."
- Alhamdulillah, in the 2014 PSLE, Iradah overcame her challenges and attained an aggregate of 231. I would like to congratulate Iradah and all the other students who attained this year’s PROMAS Performance Award. You are indeed role models for your fellow students. I sincerely hope that every one of you here continue to strive to be the best you can be, for your family, our community and the nation.
- Allow me to also recognise all the parents who have beensupportive of your children’s education. Education remains our priority and it holds the key to a better future for our children.
- Our madrasahs are key religious institutions for our community. They help mould young minds and also produce our nation’s future asatizah. It is for this reason that Muis has invested significant resources to establish a support system for a quality madrasah education. Muis contributed about $6.7 million to the madrasah sector in the form of direct grants, financial assistance and resources for teacher and asatizah training since 2010. Where required, Muis will also provide grants to madrasahs to upgrade their facilities to provide a conducive learning environment for our students.
- Our efforts to provide quality madrasah education are bearing fruit.Alhamdulillah, last year our madrasah primary six students performed better at both the national and ukhrawi-stream examinations. The top student achieved the highest record aggregate score of 269 in the PSLE. We also saw a significant improvement in the number of Madrasah students eligible for the express stream. In 2014, 61.7% were eligible for the express stream, 16% higher compared to the year before.
- The community plays an important part to support our madrasahs,through zakat and other form of contributions. PROMAS is an example of how zakat is used to help ease the burden of families who face multiple challenges by supporting their children’s access to education. With our community’s continued support, I believe that in turn, our students will contribute back to the community for generations to come,Insya-Allah.
- Thank you.
And Wabillahi Taufiq Walhidayah, Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Assalamualaikum wr wb
Segala puji dan syukur ke hadrat Allah SWT serta selawat dan salam ke atas junjungan besar Nabi Muhammad SAW.
Supporting our Madrasahs through PROMAS
PROMAS Performance Award
Towards a Quality Madrasah education
Community-wide support through zakat
