The term 'madrasah' is legally and colloquially defined in Singapore today as a 'religious school'. Such religious schools have existed in Singapore since the import of Islam in the early 15th century till today. Accordingly, the history of madrasahs can be demarcated into the medieval era, the colonial era, and the modern era.
Medieval Era (1400s--1800s)
Following the import of Islam into Singapore in the early 15th century, the earliest forms of Islamic schools in Singapore were rudimentary and informal in nature. These schools, namely the Qur'anic schools and pondok schools, usually centered around one religious teacher offering to teach Islam to students who became mere 'receptacles' to such teachings. Nonetheless, these Qur'anic schools and pondok schools flourished from the 15th to the late 19th century.
Qur'anic school
One of the earliest types of an informal Islamic educational institution was the Qur'anic school. It started in the halls of Malay royal palaces where the religious teacher was engaged to teach Islam privately, and was subsequently conducted in the homes of religious teachers, in mosques or in the surau (prayer halls); purely on voluntary efforts. The Qur'anic school focused on the mastery of the Arabic language for the sole purpose of facilitating the memorization and recitation of the Qur'an. Beyond this, however, students were not taught to learn the Qur'anic principles to comprehend their social, moral, political and economical roles as espoused in the Qur'an. The students were taught about how to perform the five daily prayers, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca, articles of faith, some forms of supplication and Arabic songs. The aim was for students to grow up in the Islamic tradition. In spite of the admittedly narrow approach to Islamic education, students of the Qur'anic school could proceed to learn the Malay language, which was then written in jawi script, and in time be appointed as teachers.
Pondok system
Another type of Islamic educational institution that subsequently emerged was the pondok schools or pesantrans (funduq in Arabic), which literally translates to inn or hotel. It was an institution of learning that resembled a boarding school, as students lived in simple huts built around the religious teacher's house. It was a private institution usually established by a well-known religious teacher. Subjects taught in the pondok include Islamic theology (tauhid), Quranic exegesis (tafsir), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), collections of sayings and teachings of the Prophet (hadith), Arabic grammar (nahu), Islamic mysticism (tasawwuf) and Islamic history (tarikh). These subjects were taught using rote learning, memorization, and the copying of texts of the teachings of Islam. Criticisms of the pondok schools were later leveled at their "limited" and "constricted methods of teaching of Islam". Despite its shortcomings, it is important to note that pondok schools significantly contributed "towards a progressive eradication of myths and legends which were pervasive in Malay texts and society during the Hindu era".
Madrasah As-Sibyan (1905--1923)
The first recorded madrasah in Singapore, As-Sibyan, was established in 1905 at Bussorah Street in the vicinity of the Sultan Mosque. Despite its name, As-Sibyan resembled more of a pondok than that of a madrasah. As-Sibyan was run by an Indonesian religious teacher who taught in his home at Bussorah street. The main focus of education in As-Sibyan was the memorization of the Qur'an. As-Sibyan relocated to Lorong Engku Aman in Geylang Serai sometime around 1923. Unfortunately, little is known about As-Sibyan after that year. However, what is evident is that As-Sibyan had long since ceased operations because there are currently no pondok schools in Singapore.
Colonial Era (1908--1945)
Muslim reformists became aware of the limitations of the Qur'anic and pondok schools during the colonial era. These reformists were discontented with the brand of Islam taught in pondoks, which they felt devoted too much attention on devotional worship and basic rituals of Islam (fardhu a'in) and did not sufficiently prepare Muslim students for socio-economic development and employment opportunities. The early madrasahs in Singapore established by Muslim reformists during the colonial era were therefore considered as "modernist institutions", and were lauded for the attempt (albeit limited) to shift Islamic education away from such traditional forms to a more Westernised structure.
Madrasah Al-Iqbal Al-Islamiah (1908--1909)
The first "modern madrasah" in Singapore, Al-Iqbal Al-Islamiah, was established on 4 February 1908, and was located at 107 Selegie Road. It was founded by an Islamic reformist, Syed Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hadi, a prominent figure in Malay journalism, who was in turn influenced by other Islamic reformists such as Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida.
Compared to its predecessors, Al-Iqbal was a "modern" and "revolutionary" madrasah. In terms of pedagogy, it advocated discourse and reasoning, and emphasized on debates and rhetoric in lieu of traditional rote learning and memorization. Its curriculum integrated a broad range of subjects from religious topics such as the usual recitation of the Qur'an, Arabic language and grammar, and Islamic ethics, to other secular subjects such as geography, history, mathematics, English and town planning. Its founder, Al-Hadi, had also refined the madrasah academic year, introduced a new system of examination, and established proper rules and regulations.
Al-Iqbal, however, was not well-received by the local Muslim community then. This can be attributed to two reasons. The first being its expensive school fees: boarders had to pay an annual fee of 300 Straits dollars for accommodation, uniforms, stationery, laundry and medical expenses, while non-boarders had to pay between 24 and 96 Straits dollars. Such fees were beyond the reach of the Muslim community at that time. Another reason for its poor reception was the resistance and disapproval of Al-Iqbal's modernist and reformist agenda by religious traditionalists. These traditionalists, who mainly comprised the official religious hierarchy and the traditional Malay elite, deemed Al-Iqbal's practices as "Westernized" and "profane", and therefore contradictory to Islam. In the face of negative feedback by the local community, Al-Iqbal was forced to close and relocate to Riau within 18 months of its opening.
The quick demise of Al-Iqbal had diminished the "reformist zeal" of the early madrasahs, but did not extinguish it. Despite Al-Iqbal's premature closure, its legacy as a reformist madrasah was apparent--it is postulated that Al-Iqbal represented "the forerunner of other reformist schools that were subsequently established throughout the Malay Peninsula in the following years."
Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah (1936--present)
As an alternative to Al-Iqbal, Madrasah Al-Maarif was established in 1936 by Syeikh Muhammad Fadhlullah Suhaimi, a strong advocate of education for girls. Al-Maarif's reformist ideals were inherent from the beginning: its curriculum had also included non-religious subjects, and most notably, Al-Maarif was also the first madrasah to accept female students as well as male. Today, Al-Maarif is one of the only two madrasahs that offer madrasah education exclusively to girls.
Associate Professor Khairudin and Dayang Hussin postulated that Al-Maarif and Al-Iqbal represented a new breed of madrasahs imbibing aspects of Islamic reformist ideals and accordingly, represented the beginning of formal Muslim education. As Assoc. Prof. Khairudin and Dayang Hussin wrote:
The structure of this madrassah was generally characterized by its systematic organization, such as fixed curriculum period, division of educational levels into primary and secondary, as well as existence of facilities such as chairs and tables for students. As for the enhancement of intellectual tradition, the madrassah incorporated other 'non-religious' subjects, such as mathematics and science (and other subjects depending on respective madrassah) in addition to subjects on Islam.
By 1941, the madrasahs in Singapore were educating about 2000 students in total. By this time, Singapore was a major regional centre of Islamic education, producing and attracting many of the prominent Islamic religious scholars (ulama) in the region. This period is thus often referred to as the "golden period" of madrasahs in Singapore. The question of whether madrasahs conformed to the mainstream education system of Singapore did not arise during the colonial era because the education landscape was already varied and each community catered to its own educational needs. Madrasahs were thus very much left to their own devices.
Post-Independence Era (1945--2000)
After World War II ended in 1945, education became crucial for a young nation trying to ensure economic survival after independence. To make matters worse, students from the region did not return to complete their studies after the war. In response, more madrasahs attempted to stay relevant by incorporating secular subjects in their curriculum. By the time Singapore attained self-governance in 1959, the number of madrasahs had doubled from 6 to 12. The number of madrasahs, and students attending such institutions, further ballooned during the period of merger between Singapore and Malaysia (1963-1965), with the highest number reaching 28 Muslim schools in 1962. Another reported claimed a numerical peak of 26 madrasahs in Singapore by 1966.
Despite its initial expansion, the popularity of madrasahs declined with the emergence of national schools, and many were closed.Whilst madrasahs in Singapore had previously shone as regional beacons of knowledge during the colonial era, their roles in the post-independence era were very much dim. The role of madrasahs became confined to the sole production of religious teachers and officials for the local community. Beyond this limited role, madrasahs merely served as "a kind of safety net, taking in students who had failed the national school system, ... in functioning as providers of a social service to the community." By 1982, only four madrasahs providing secondary education and five providing primary education remained. To a large extent, the madrasahs "became, very much, schools on the periphery".
Introduction of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (1966--present)
With the passing of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) in 1966, madrasahs came under the purview of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) and numerous reforms were made. In that year, Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah included English, Malay, mathematics and science in its curriculum, 39 years after its existence, and offered the GCE 'O' level examination for the first time in 1973. Madrasah Al-Maarif became the first to prepare its students for the GCE 'O' and 'A' level examinations as private candidates. Despite these developments, madrasahs still faced challenges. By the mid-1980s, a gender disparity was apparent--almost 95% of madrasah students were female. This became a cause of concern for MUIS, which was worried that there would be a lack of male religious officials.
Management and control by MUIS (1990--present)
On 1 March 1990, MUIS gained control of the registration and management of madrasahs pursuant to Section 87 and 88 of AMLA. Sweeping reforms were made that "revived interest in the kind of education madrasahs could offer". A centralized curriculum for madrasahs was established. A degree of standardization among full-time madrasahs was also established. For example, the Peperiksaan Sijil Thanawi Empat (PSTE), which is a religious knowledge component certificate examination for students at the Secondary Four level in the madrasahs was introduced. By the late 1990s, the curriculum was revamped to include initiatives from the Ministry of Education such as information technology education and national education. It must be noted, however, that despite the efforts by MUIS in consolidating and upgrading the madrasah system, results were "slow and few, partly due to tacit resistance by the madrasahs". These madrasahs, having established and managed themselves independently for many years, "resented having to be answerable to MUIS under the new arrangement."
Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, the decline in demand for madrasahs in the post-independence era began to reverse. During this period, the popularity and demand for madrasah education rose and peaked, so much so that the number of applications always superseded the enrollment, half of such applications had to be turned down, and the resulting student enrollment had more than doubled.
Modern Era (2000--present)
Despite the apparent popularity of the madrasahs, the growing community support had also added new pressures. During this period, both the Muslim community and Singaporeans as a whole experienced a general rise in living standards and socio-economic status--and with it, a "greater desire to widen the scope and vision of Islamic education". There was a new expectation that madrasahs should provide not only religious education, but also academic skills like Mathematics, Science and English. Accordingly, this period was marked by debates and discourse over the purpose and relevance of madrasah education. In response, madrasahs were forced to adapt to such rapidly changing circumstances.
Introduction of the Compulsory Education Act (2001--present)
In light of the growing enrollment of students into madrasahs, the Government of Singapore began to seriously raise its growing concerns of madrasah students of not conforming with the objectives of national schools espoused by the state. In particular, questions were raised on the national platform as to whether madrasahs students can effectively contribute to a knowledge-based economy, and participate in social integration as part of nation-building. Statistics revealed by the Education Minister, Rear Admiral (NS) Teo Chee Hean, were particularly incriminating: Malay-Muslim students in national schools performed far better than their counterparts in madrasahs. Data further revealed a high attrition rate of 65% amongst madrasah students. This was troubling, because madrasah students who dropped out with only a primary or secondary education found that they had neither the necessary skills to join the national labor force nor the necessary qualifications to be religious educators. With these concerns at hand, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong mooted his proposal for a compulsory education policy in his 1999 National Day Rally Speech. This proposed policy meant that children between the ages of six and 15 must attend six years of primary school education at a national school. The policy effectively implied that madrasahs could no longer offer their primary classes as an alternative to national primary schooling. In support of the policy, PM Goh said:
Issue not about madrasah's future, but the future of Muslim children ... 'Do you want them to grow up all being religious teachers and religious preachers, or do you want them to be trained in IT, to be engineers, doctors, architects, professionals? If the madrasahs were training 100 or 200 students a year, I think we can live with that. But if you are training 400, 500, 1000, 2000 in full-time madrasahs or in full-time religious education supplemented by some secular subjects, what will be the future of the Malay community? ... I cannot say, however, that some madrasahs may not close because we want to have standards.
-- Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong , May Day Rally, The Straits Times, 2 May 2000
Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew (as he then was) echoed his successor's views in an exclusive interview with the Readers' Digest:
But for the resurgence of Islam, it would have been a success. … Some 10 per cent of the population are in specially run religious schools where you learn Arabic and the Quran and Malay, and a little bit of Science and Mathematics and English, but in a fast-changing society like Singapore, how are you going to make a living later on? That worries me.
-- Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Interview with the Readers' Digest
The proposal for a compulsory education policy drew "mixed but intense response from different sections of the Malay-Muslim community". On one hand, some recognized the inadequacies of the madrasah system and supported the policy--such was the view of the Malay political leaders and some community leaders. On the other hand, madrasah advocates were "aroused, if not agitated", and vehemently resisted the policy which they had perceived to be a governmental ploy, made with a "sinister motive" "to undermine the Muslim parochial school system". Many saw the policy as infringing on their right and freedom to educate their children in a manner they see fit. They were also genuinely concerned that there would be insufficient number of students who would be motivated to switch to the madrasah after having spent six years in the national schools, leading to an extinction of the madrasahs. In any case, they argued, religious education would be less effective if it were to start later at the secondary level. In a statement released to the press, the Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS) tersely asserted:
PERGAS rejects the proposal, in its present form, to implement this compulsory education if it causes the closure of schooling in primary madrasah, which to PERGAS is tantamount to the gradual and inevitable closure of the madrasah, even if not intended... Any future proposal seen as undermining this institution would certainly invite negative reaction.
-- Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS), Press Statement, "The 'Compulsory Education' - Madrasah Issue: The Stand of PERGAS"
What was ultimately clear from the defiant stance of madrasah advocates was that the majority of the Muslim community was anxious to maintain the madrasah institution. After a series of closed-door meetings and open forums, PM Goh announced that madrasahs could be exempted from compulsory education on condition that they prepared their primary school students for the national exam, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Madrasah students must meet the score set by Malay pupils in the six lowest-performing national schools at the PSLE at least twice within a three-year period. Failure to meet this benchmark would mean that particular madrasah would not be allowed to offer primary classes for a year. New intakes of students into madrasahs would be capped at 400 a year. PM Goh further emphasized that the policy was not intended to close down the madrasahs, and the Government's willingness to support one madrasah from primary to secondary level was testimony to its recognition of the importance of madrasahs. This was later honoured when the Government upgraded Madrasah Irsyad with the necessary funding and infrastructure support, allowing the madrasah to shift to a $16 million, eight-storey building at the Singapore Islamic Hub on Braddell Road.
The enactment of the Compulsory Education Act in 2001, and its eventual implementation in 2003, meant that madrasahs had to prepare the pioneer batch of madrasah students seating for their PSLE in 2008 to meet the benchmark, lest the authorities halt primary enrollment for that particular madrasah. To this end, the "PSLE requirement" has been described as "the main driver of change for Singapore madrasahs in the 21st century." In order to make the cut, madrasahs made sweeping reforms and necessary preparations by equipping students with improved competencies in English, Mathematics and Science. Such measures include a greater emphasis on English as a medium of instruction, and the introduction of a learning support programme to assist weaker students. Madrasah Aljunied, for example, devoted 7 hours a week to the subject of mathematics, compared to 3 previously. School hours were also extended to accommodate both religious and secular subjects in preparation for the PSLE. Despite taking such measures, Madrasah Wak Tanjong did not meet the benchmark twice in the 3-year assessment period from 2008--2010. As a result, it could only resume its primary school enrollment in 2015.
Of the pioneer batch in 2008, 98% of the 321 pupils qualified to progress to secondary school, higher than the national average of 97%. In 2009, 93% of the 363 pupils who sat for the PSLE qualified for secondary school. Since the inception of the PSLE requirement, the majority of the madrasahs in Singapore have consistently met the benchmark till today. In 2015, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Yaacob Ibrahim announced that the academic performance of madrasah students have improved over the years. He pointed out that in 2014, 61.7% of madrasah students made it to the Express stream, a 16% increase compared to the year before.