Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand: Tradition and Transformation

2. The Structure of Islamic Education in Southern Thailand

48 48 Islam, Education and Reform 2 THE STRUCTURE OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN SOUTHERN THAILAND According to the National Education Act (2542/1999) the government of Thailand is responsible for the provision of nine years of compulsory education and twelve years of free education — six years at elementary (Arabic: ibtidai, Thai: prathom 1–6), three years at middle (Arabic: mutawassit, Thai: mathayom 1–3), and three years at secondary (Arabic: thanawi, Thai: matayom 4–6) levels. The move to increase the number of years of compulsory education from six to nine years was welcomed in some circles but also met with reservation by others.The Malay-Muslim community, in particular harboured concerns that increasing the number of years of compulsory education meant that their children would have to spend more time in government schools before they could transfer to Islamic education institutions. Since 2006, the Ministry of Education has worked to align the standard of Islamic studies by bringing its various levels on par with those of government schools. Correspondingly, ibtidai has been standardized with primary schools (six years), mutawassit with secondary schools (three years), and thanawi with upper secondary school/high school (three years). Despite the fact that southern Thailand has a mix of Islamic and secular national schools, it has been estimated that as much as 85 per cent of MalayMuslim students attend Islamic schools.1 This figure is striking and makes abundantly clear that, despite the overwhelming forces of modernization and secularization, and years of pressure to assimilate, Islamic education and 48 02 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 2 4/23/09, 2:32 PM 48 49 The Structure of Islamic Education in Southern Thailand 49 Islamic teachers continue to have pride of place in the collective sociocultural consciousness and historical memory of Malay-Muslims in southern Thailand. The figures in Table 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate the continued popularity of Islamic schools in the southern border provinces (see Table 2.1 and 2.2). While marginally different from the estimate of 85 per cent highlighted above, the following figures compiled by the Ministry of Education for the southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, and Pattani, along with Satun and Songkhla, of Muslim students and the types of schools they were enrolled in for the year 2000, nevertheless indicate the considerable popularity of Islamic schools (Table 2.3 and 2.4).2 On the other hand, it is glaringly obvious that national schools in the southern provinces have among the lowest attendance rates of any in the country.3 Insofar as the local communities are concerned, while no recent quantitative studies have been undertaken to ascertain the reasons behind this phenomenon, it can be reasonably surmised that, in accordance with historical trends, Malay-Muslim parents tend to equate national schools with the Buddhist religion.4 TYPOLOGY OF SCHOOLS There are six levels of formal Islamic education in Thailand: 1) Sekolah Anubahn (nursery) 2) Raudah (pre-primary) 3) Tadika (Taman Didikan Kanak-kanak or primary)5 4) Pondok 5) Islamic Private Schools or Private Schools Teaching Islam, also known as Madrasah (Arabic), Sekolah Agama Rakyat or Sekolah Agama Swasta (Malay), and Rongrian Ekachon Sorn Sasna Islam (Thai) 6) Institut Pengajian Tinggi (Universities and tertiary education institutions) Sekolah Anubahn, Raudah, and Tadika Religious education for Muslims in Thailand traditionally begins at home, with lessons concentrating on the recitation of the Qur’an. In more recent times however, sekolah anubahn, raudah, and tadika schools have been established in mosques and have mostly taken over the role of early religious education instruction. Sekolah anubahn, which are essentially Muslim childcare facilities for infants and toddlers, are a recent phenomenon in southern Thailand. Their popularity is at least partly a result of the transformation of 02 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 2 4/23/09, 2:32 PM 49 50 50 Islam, Education and Reform TABLE 2.1 Total Number of Muslim and Buddhist Students in the Three Southern Provinces, 2004 Level Total Percentage Buddhist Muslim Others Total Buddhist Muslim Others Total Kindergarten 3,657 47,942 399 51,998 7.0 92.2 0.8 100.0 Primary School 15,070 162,327 7,699 185,096 8.1 87.7 4.2 100.0 Secondary School 11,514 11,527 216 23,257 49.5 49.6 0.9 100.0 High School 5,604 4,794 22 10,420 53.8 46.0 0.2 100.0 Total 35,845 226,590 8,336...