Muhammad Kamalie, senior teacher and head of research, Madrasah tul Madina, Beacon Valley
The story “Pilot project targets madrasah teachers” (Plainsman, July 24) refers.
Assisting madrasah teachers in our community to continuously upskill themselves is imperative to the aims of raising standards in our madarees (Muslim schools).
The one-month long free madrasah teachers’ training course, at 99 Korfbal Street in Beacon Valley, from Monday August 5 until Thursday August 29 was a great success.
More than 50 teachers from 30 areas around the Cape Flats attended the course daily.
The course made teachers aware of the necessity to develop the ability to adapt to new situations, upgrade their teaching methods and to reach out to our youth.
The course started with an honest introspective evaluation on why each participant was a madrasah teacher, their concerns and their aspirations, which laid the foundation for the rest of the course.
We were fortunate to have had facilitators trained in their respective fields.
Qur’an recitation tuition for teachers helped upskill their methods of training youth.
The approaches to Islamic theology and practice by Maulana Shameeg Khatari and I brought more insights and skills to teachers.
Hassanain Abdullah, from Awqaf SA and Ebrahim Ismail gave presentations on the role of technology, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on madrasah education.
Sheikh Sadullah Khan, chief executive officer of Islamia College, spoke to the who for, what for and why in preparing lessons.
The classroom and lesson prep tips by Ridwaan Williams, principal of Portland High School was invaluable.
Education psychologist Lemeez Gasant addressed the psychology needed to address the youth.
Farid Sayed, editor of Muslim Views, emphasised the role the media could play in uplifting madarees and the importance of putting your organisation out there creatively.
Arabic calligrapher Faheem Jackson showed teachers how aesthetically pleasing and therapeutic value art could be for young pupils.
Madrasah tul Madina principal Sheikh Abduragmaan May taught effective methods to raising funds and running madarees.
Ebrahim Rhoda and Shafiq Morton brought Cape Muslim history to life.
Their presentations inspired teachers to implement in their curricula some local Muslim history.
Magboeba Davids, from the Islamic Unity Convention, spoke to the sacredness of the womb and being a woman, which highlighted the crises in our communities of teen pregnancies, abortions and HIV.
Now it is up to the teachers to implement some of these ideas and tips.
All in all great friendships were forged and great knowledge was shared during the month.
Everyone expressed their desire to have another similar course because of its comprehensive content.