Primary 1 Student Enrolment in Full-time Madrasahs

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) for each year from 2012 to 2014, what is the Primary 1 student enrolment figure for each of the full-time madrasahs; and (b) what are some of the measures that MUIS has put in place to encourage such enrolments.

On average, Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah enrolled about 30 Primary 1 students each year from 2012 to 2014 whereas Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah enrolled about 67 students and Madrasah Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiah, which is under the Joint Madrasah System (JMS), admitted about 204 students each year during the same period.

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Madrasahs Aljunied Al-Islamiah and Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah ceased taking in Primary 1 students from 2009 when these madrasahs became part of the Joint Madrasah System, under which they only take in secondary school students.

Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah did not enrol any Primary 1 students between 2012 and 2014. Under the Compulsory Education (CE) Act, our full-time madrasahs are required to meet the annual PSLE benchmark in order to continue to admit students at Primary 1, and Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah did not meet the benchmark in the assessment period of 2008 to 2010. Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah has since met the benchmarks and has started admitting students at Primary 1 in 2015.

The madrasah education system requires primary students to take five additional Islamic subjects on top of the four PSLE subjects. The madrasahs conduct admissions tests to ensure that students who enrol will be able to cope well with the demands of the curriculum. In total, Primary 1 enrolment of the full-time madrasahs caters for up to 400 places.

MUIS, together with the madrasahs, are committed to providing a quality education for our madrasah students. Besides recruiting and retaining quality teachers, MUIS also invests in the professional development of madrasah leaders and teachers.