By Ibraheem Daramy
FERENSOLA
The first formal education I ever had was on a piece of board where I first encountered the Arabic alphabet. One of my daily routines was to visit nearby bushes to fetch firewood to light up our evening sessions. No surprise there — after all, both my maternal and paternal grandfathers were renowned clerics. Having a mosque within their compounds was an unwritten rule they would never compromise. They hosted young boys from distant places like Kankan in Guinea Conakry who came to learn and master the Holy Qur’an.
When my mother enrolled her children in school, she held a firm belief that it must be one where Arabic was taught as a subject. She insisted that Juma prayers were a sacred and non-negotiable opportunity for the family to commune with Allah (SWT); therefore, no child of hers would attend a school that held classes on Fridays. She was fortunate that by the time her children came of school age, Islamic mission schools had already been established.
The establishment of Islamic schools was a great relief for many Muslims. Since their foundation was rooted in the spread of Islam, the teaching of Arabic became central to that mission. I remember we used to call our teachers Uztaz—which translates to “teacher” in English. Some of them also served as Karan Moh (adult teachers) in our after-school Qur’anic classes held in their homes.
The teaching of Arabic has immense benefits — promoting cultural understanding, diversity, and religious literacy. Studying Arabic helps students appreciate the rich cultural and historical context of Islamic civilization and its contributions to art, literature, science, and philosophy.
However, the current recruitment process of teachers by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) risks ending the teaching of Arabic in Islamic schools. Given that retirements are a natural cycle, the teaching of Arabic must not be allowed to fade away. Unfortunately, prospective teachers stand little chance of replacing their senior peers because of how the current system is structured.
At present, there is an acute shortage of Arabic teachers in Islamic schools. The TSC now requires every applicant to pass a standardized examination — the first step toward recruitment. But here lies the challenge: these exams are conducted entirely in English, covering mathematics, computer literacy, and other subjects that many traditional Arabic scholars are unfamiliar with.
I am therefore making a passionate appeal to my colleagues and friends at the Teaching Service Commission to consider reforms that will end what feels like an unintentional discrimination against Arabic teachers.
