Kusema Serikali haina dini ni kutokujuwa maana ya neno "dini".
Hilo lililetwa na Nyerere, huku anahubiri serikali haina dini, huku anawajaza Wagalatia wenzake kila sehemu na kuwapa kipaumbele cha elimu.
Msome Sivalon anachambuwa hilo.
Unafik mtupu.
Kenya launches Islamic studies
curriculum in madrasas
A new curriculum being piloted in
50 religious schools in Kenya aims to
streamline Islamic studies and
ensure extremist teachings are not
propagated in madrasas.
A young
boy walks behind his mother as
they head to the mosque for
Friday prayers in the old town of
Mombasa on February 20, 2014.
[Ivan Lieman/AFP]
The development of the new
curriculum was a joint effort
spearheaded by al-Muntada al-Islami
Trust, an international charity
organisation based in the United
Kingdom, in partnership with the
Council of Muslim Scholars in Kenya,
the Supreme Council of Kenya
Muslims and representatives from
the Kenya Institute of Curriculum
Development (KICD).
Failure to have a unified Islamic
studies curriculum in madrasas has
left gaps that fiery clerics have been
exploiting to radicalise youths
, said Sheikh Abdilatif Abdulkarim,
an executive board member with al-
Mutanda al-Islami Trust in Nairobi.
"We think this is one way of dealing
with extremism," he told Sabahi.
"With the curriculum we will be able
to commit the teachers of these
madrasas to delivering content that
is relevant to the children, and it
will be easier to hold accountable
those who defy the rules through
evaluations."
The curriculum, which took three
years to develop, will also include
lessons on the values of tolerance
and the importance of nationhood,
he said.
"Apart from embracing Islam, we
need these children to remain
patriotic to their nation and love
other citizens irrespective of their
faiths when they grow up," he said.
"It is only through education that
they can acquire those skills, which
is the reason we have incorporated
[those lessons] in the curriculum.
That will make it hard for them to
fall prey to criminal elements like
terrorists."
The 90-day pilot programme was
rolled out February 6th in schools in
Mombasa, Nairobi and Garissa that
are participating voluntarily,
Abdulkarim said, adding that they
hope to adopt the curriculum
nationwide by January 2015.
Lawyer Ibrahim Lethome , who
helped write the new curriculum
and is now working to implement it,
told Sabahi there was an urgent
need to unify and standardise
Islamic studies in independent
religious schools since the Kenyan
Ministry of Education formally
recognised them.
"We have had a vacuum in this area,
and therefore this curriculum is a
step towards filling that vacuum and
having these institutions respond to
our teaching needs," said Lethome,
an expert on sharia law and member
of the Jamia Mosque Committee
based in Nairobi.
"What we are doing now is testing
the programme through the pilot
project," he said. "In the spirit of
public participation, during this
period we will be able to get the
opinions of parents and other
stakeholders on what the curriculum
should look like."
Promoting understanding
Before the curriculum is approved
for use nationwide, the pilot
programme will be evaluated and
subject to modifications, said Abdi
Kheir, a programme officer for KICD,
the government entity in charge of
evaluating and approving curricula
for Kenyan schools below university
level.
"All in all, this is a big leap in the
right direction and it will definitely
turn around how Islamic studies are
taught in the country," he told
Sabahi.
Having a known and approved
curriculum will help eliminate
undue suspicion from the general
public concerned with what goes on
in informal schools, he said. "This
will help promote understanding
and appreciation."
During the pilot evaluation, KICD
will continue to provide technical
assistance, he said. Once the final
curriculum is approved, madrasas
will be required to adopt it as a
precondition to receiving a license to
operate.
For his part, Sheikh Abu Hamzah,
imam of Mosque Huda in Mombasa,
praised the curriculum saying it is
bringing uniformity in content
delivery and will help communities
develop common religious
approaches to solving problems.
The new curriculum also provides
guidelines for educators on teaching
techniques, said Hamzah, whose
school is participating in the pilot.
"It has detailed teaching practices
for us educators, ranging from how
to arrange [lessons], and plan daily
teaching routines and curriculum
content for every age group, which
means we will be systematic in our
approaches, and thus avoid wasting
time," he told Sabahi.
Kenya launches Islamic studies
curriculum in madrasas -
Sabahionline.com