بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
News & Comment
Quality Education for B40 and from Poor Families – Dr. Maszlee
News
SHAH ALAM 1 April – The Ministry of Education has made sure its education policy does not neglect any section of the society the right for education to realize their potential to become quality individuals. The Minister of Education, Dr. Maszlee Malik, has pointed out that the current education policy has taken care of needy sections of the society such as, the B40 group, native peoples, physically impaired people, the poor and ethnic minorities. In addition, he stated that schools are now admitting students who are even without any identification documents.
Comment
The education policy is an important element of a nation. The education policy influences the direction of the future generation of leaders. The rise and fall of any nation is closely related to the quality of the generation moulded by the education policy of a nation.
Therefore, much emphasis is given to the education policy of the nation which indoctrinates the correct personality which controls the thought and emotions of the individual, as well as having the skills and knowledge of various disciplines.
As such, the current education policy of most countries is moulded by the dominant capitalism ideology. Therefore, all of the education policy is built upon the idea of secularism which is the basis of the capitalism ideology, where the Deen (Islam), the solution of life problems, is separated from the lives of the individual in the society. Therefore, the current education policy is only able to produce individuals who excel in all branches of knowledge and skills, such as in science and engineering, but is unable to produce individuals who are balanced in all aspects of live. It is evident that the problems of the education policy are related to the ideology which realizes its existence.
For the shaping of the education policy, this will not happen without the full implementation of the Islamic systems which can only be achieved in the presence of an ideological Islamic state. The purpose of the education policy is to exalt Islam, according to the hadith of Rasulullah (saw), «الإِسْلامُ يَعْلُو وَلا يُعْلَى» “Islam is the highest, and nothing is higher”. [HR. Ad-Daruquthni and al-Baihaqi].
The education policy must involve all sections of the society, from the young to the old i.e., from the cradle to the grave. And the holy Quran, in addition to the other sources of Ahkam Shariah such as as-Sunnah, Ijma’ Sahabah, dan Qiyas, are the basis of the education policy.
The nation is obliged to establish free education to all levels of society whether poor or rich. All citizens must have the right to free education to all levels whether elementary or advanced. The cost of education materials, such as books and stationaries, in addition to the fees cannot be imposed to the citizens. The state does not only provide free education, but also implement quality education on the basis of Islam, and Islam is the objective of its implementation.
As mentioned before, the educational policy in Islam is built on the Aqeedah of Islam. Therefore, the state has to ensure that the Islamic Aqeedah and the Islamic concepts are the foremost importance before other disciplines and knowledge are taught in achieving the objective of the educational policy of the state.
Therefore, all problems associated with the educational policy cannot be solved if they are still connected to the dominant idea of secularism, which was implemented by the kafir colonialists, and which only strengthened the grip of the West colonialists on the Muslims. If individuals with the correct Islamic personality are desired, then the whole of the educational policy must be changed into the Islamic educational policy. Or the secular educational policy must be changed to the Islamic educational policy. And this requires an effort to re-establish the Islamic ruling system – the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Mohd Jasman