Speech by Chief Executive of MUIS, Mr Kadir Maideen at Ilham Asatizah Awards & Briefing Session 2021

Respected,

ILHAM Executive Director, Ust Mohamad Khidir,

ILHAM Management Committee Members and staff,

Respected Mosque Chairmen,

Centre Managers, Programme Heads and Esteemed Asatizah

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh

1. A very good morning to all of you and t hank you for joining us in today’s ILHAM Asatizah Awards.

Objectives of the aLIVE centralisation project

2. MUIS has embarked on a project to centralise the operations of the mosque madrasahs and created an office to manage this. The Islamic Education Hub and Management Office or ILHAM for short, was created to continue the good work of the mosques that have provided Islamic Education through the aLIVE programme. ILHAM partners the mosque to ensure that the offerings in the aLIVE programme is coordinated across all mosque madrasahs. With ILHAM, we would expect to improve the quality of the content in aLIVE, professionalise our asatizah and ensure a sustainable growth of the sector.

3. ILHAM provides progressive Islamic Education content development for the aLIVE programme appropriate to the different age groups. Today’s aLIVE books that are used by students and the aLIVE Home-Based Learning package taught in replacement of the physical classes are some of the examples of the materials that have been produced by ILHAM and impacted many students’ lives.

4. Aside from content development, ILHAM also manages the development of asatizah teaching in the aLIVE programme. It aims to professionalise asatizah, ensuring that they are adequately trained, and their career supported. ILHAM has recently implemented a new scheme of service to set the key employment terms for its Teaching staff. This will ensure that the HR management of aLIVE teaching staff is streamlined, and the career pathways of asatizah are chartered so that ILHAM can be the employer of choice in the Islamic education sector.

5. ILHAM also aims to achieve financial sustainability for the aLIVE sector through economies of scale with the centralisation of aLIVE centres under its care. A lot of resources have been put in place to ensure the overall operations, content delivery and teacher upgrading remain the focus for aLIVE 2022 at the respective centres.

Success of pilot phase of centralisation

6. I am glad to see that the first phase of mosques madrasahs coming together under ILHAM has been successful in 2021. This would not have been achieved without the strong partnership of the mosques management board members and their staff.

7. Mosques staff and MMB of Al -Ansar, Al Istighfar, Al Taqua, Alkaff Kampung Melayu and Darul Ghufran have been forthcoming to plan and prepare for the academic year together with ILHAM staff. This made the handover of matters pertaining to the madrasah go smoothly and eased the transition for many parents of the aLIVE students.

8. Yet the pilot phase has not been without its challenges. With the situation with Covid not over and teething issues faced when implementing new systems and processes, ILHAM together with the mosques, persevered and faced the challenges one by one and solved it in their stride.

9. We are indeed fortunate that the strong partnership we have with the mosques has allowed us to continue delivering Islamic knowledge to the children. The accessibility of the mosques in the heartlands has allowed parents the convenience of sending their children for classes at a timing of their choice.

10. Remember that it takes a village to nurture a child? This should be the spirit of the village. Mosques coming together with ILHAM and MUIS to render support to one another to ensure that Islamic Education of the highest quality is received by the child.

11. I am looking forward to the continued partnership of the 5 mosques and 10 new mosques working together with ILHAM starting in January 2022.

12. In the years to come, we look forward to have all the mosque madrasahs work in a similar model under ILHAM’s management. And we hope to see the objectives of coming together under the centralisation project achieve its desired outcomes.

Impact of good asatizah on children

Ladies and gentlemen,

13. We want the best for our children especially in Islamic learning in a secular community, hence good asatizah like yourselves will play an integral role in delivering and supporting their Islamic knowledge acquisition.

14. Asatizah play an important role in equipping our children with useful knowledge, skills and values in Islamic learning. Children will look up to positive role models and emulate the akhlak that you try to impart to them. That precious three hours a week may not be sufficient but lays the basis of a solid foundation for our children.

15. Do it well and you would have the ability to inculcate the right habits, knowledge and attitude in the children under your care. Nurture them, groom them so that they can bring these Islamic values with them when they interact with their family members and their peers, only then we can claim that the programme has achieved its ultimate objective and that you have left a lasting legacy.

16. I would also like to commend all asatizah for stepping up to deliver classes online although for some it must have been a steep learning curve to toggle the various online platforms. With the success of the online delivery for aLIVE 2021, we have seen an increase in enrolment for aLIVE 2022 at the 15 mosques. Congratulations! I applaud your effort for your commitment to better equip yourselves with the new norm of alternative delivery methods. We expect better things to come with the coming together of 15 centres in ILHAM.

ILHAM Asatizah Awards 2021

17. I am happy to be here to present the inaugural ILHAM Annual Asatizah Awards for exceptional asatizah who show great passion in teaching and learning activities and are outstanding in the classrooms. I was informed that there are 10 of them honoured today.

18. The ILHAM Annual Asatizah Awards is an effort to recognise asatizah’s outstanding performance in lesson delivery and commitment to the students. All asatizah’s classes were observed from the beginning of the year, and they are graded every term. The winners of the awards are asatizah who have achieved at least a B+ grading in the observations for every term this year. Asatizah are observed on various competencies that includes presentation techniques, engagement with students, appropriate questioning techniques to draw out higher order thinking from students and how feedback is given to students to assess their understanding. The 10 winners of the award today are those who are truly deserving from amongst the other 77 asatizah in ILHAM.

19. One of the asatizah receiving the awards today is, Ustazah Halimatussaadiah Binte Ali Barda Khan. She has been teaching in Alkaff Kampung Melayu Mosque for 14 years since 2007 as a part time asatizah. Ustazah Halimatussadiah teaches 4 sessions in 2021 in both the Tweens and Youth levels. In her classes, she puts in the extra effort to prepare engaging lessons weekly to ensure her students understand concepts and contribute to meaningful discussions during class. One such example was how she created props to teach wudu’ online. She made out a cute model of a foot and ear so that she can show her students how to appropriately apply wudu’ on those parts. The young students enjoyed that lesson tremendously.

20. Besides her weekend classes, Ustazah Halimatussadiah is also heavily involved in other works of the aLIVE programme such as her appointment to develop the Youth aLIVE 2.0 content, a trainer for the ADIL programme as well as a trainer in the Basics of Teaching aLIVE course. Ustazah Halimatussadiah along with 9 other asatizah honoured today are models for other asatizah to take inspiration from.

21. To the other asatizah who were nominated or did not receive a nomination today, we hope that you do not lose heart and always take pride in the work that you do. Take the opportunity in the following year to upskill yourselves in the many courses and training sessions that ILHAM will be organising. With the training received, I sincerely hope to see more asatizah who will receive the awards in the coming years insya Allah.

Asatizah, Guests, Ladies & gentlemen,

22. Other than the Asatizah Awards, ILHAM has also ensured that exciting training courses will be available for asatizah to improve their skills. In 2021, more than 1000 asatizah have attended training. This is an increase of 59% from the previous year. Along with that, regular classroom observations and mentorship programmes were conducted regularly so that asatizah remain supported in their classrooms. With all the initiatives planned for our asatizah, we hope that this can encourage our asatizah to go the extra mile and ensure the delivery of lessons is at the best of quality. We look forward to your continued support and passion as you nurture the students in their pursuit for Islamic knowledge.

Conclusion

23. Allow me to conclude by thanking all of you the asatizah who have been instrumental in ensuring that the programme runs smoothly this past year. With ILHAM, you will be progressing to support the aLIVE programme and you can look forward to exciting times within the next 5 years to develop your skills as educators further.

24. We humbly request for your continued doa and involvement in this important effort. We hope and pray that as we provide our young with a good foundation in their Islamic learning, they will grow up in turn to be good role models like yourselves. We also hope they will uphold the teachings of Islam and example of the Prophet (SAW ) in being a blessing to all around them and having a positive contribution to society in whatever fields they may pursue.

Thank you and I wish you a good and meaningful journey with us. Wabillahitaufik wal hidayah, wassalamu’alaikum wr wb.