KARACHI: At a year-end staff meeting at Generation’s School in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area, teachers gather to brainstorm ways in which to improve the curriculum for the next academic year. To commence the meeting, a male staff member recites from the Quran.

The recited verse is then repeated in Urdu translation and briefly discussed by the assembled teachers, a bright array of dupattas, headscarves and niqabs. And then, it’s down to business as usual. Well, almost.

The teachers are mulling over a textbook on the ancient world – published by a well respected, English-language press – that their eighth-graders will be using next semester.

To their dismay, the book begins with a description of the evolution of man. ‘We need to give them the facts,’ says one teacher. ‘They need to know that Darwinism is just an opinion.’

Some teachers recommend books and videos by Harun Yahya, a controversial Islamic creationist, as a classroom alternative. ‘Our students should first learn the truth as stated in the Quran, and then learn about these other versions.’

The discussion that ensues is nuanced and articulate, and it gets at the heart of the challenge that private, value-based schools have take upon themselves: to provide holistic education for Muslim children by combining secular knowledge and Islamic principles.

Several schools in Karachi currently offer value-based education, including Generation’s, Star Links, Yaqeen Education Foundation, Reflections, The Intellect School and others. These institutions aim to prepare students to cope with the challenges of the modern world in light of Islamic belief by bringing spiritual development into the classroom.

As a founding member of a value-based school in Korangi who preferred to remain anonymous put it, ‘we’re trying to address the fact that students in secular, O’Level track schools get religion in spite of their schooling, not because of it.’ Dr Ghazala Siddiqui, the principal of Generation’s, complains that schooling in Pakistan is ‘too polarized’, forcing parents to ‘choose between madrassahs and convents.’

Her school, which opened in 1990 and now has over 1700 students, thus strives towards a middle road, ‘where learning and faith are the same.’ Boasting a more explicit vision, Amina Murad, the principal of Star Links in Clifton, says that her school ‘wants to bring back the quest for knowledge in the ummah’ and address the fact that students – who she describes as khalifas – have ‘split personalities in the absence of a uniform Muslim character.’

To successfully balance deen and dunya in the classroom, value-based schools have developed innovative, often rigorous curriculum. Arabic language classes are recommended or required from class one onwards. In class three, students start studying the translation and meaning of Quranic verses and have the option of simultaneously enrolling in hifz programmes to memorise the Quran.

At later stages – classes four through nine – Islam is contextualised: at Generation’s, students are taught Islamic history and geography; at Star Links, they study the seerat-un-nabi, the lifestyle and values of Prophet Muhammad. ‘The idea,’ says the founder of the Korangi-based school, ‘is to bring Islamiat at par with other subjects.’ That said, value-based schools also stress the importance of integrating the teaching of knowledge, character building and Islam.

Pulling off this balancing act leads to inventive classroom activities. At Star Links, students are taught scientific hypotheses using Hazrat Ibrahim as a model: the Quranic verses in which he rejects idolatory on the basis that the moon wanes and the sun sets is presented as a form of analytical thinking.

‘Our students should understand that Islam has already done science – it’s nothing new, it’s a revival,’ says Murad.

Meanwhile, in history classes, students learn about the demise of ancient civilizations while reading Quranic verses about Hazrat Lut – the goal is to make students connect historic events with God’s decree. In Generation’s, too, Quranic stories are read and discussed in classrooms, and teachers often use puppets to enrich the narrative for younger students.

While reading from the Quran is paramount, Islamic values permeate all aspects of teaching and learning at value-based schools.

Students are taught Prophet Muhammad’s lifestyle as a way to learn time management, interpersonal skills and moderation. Art classes emphasise non-representational crafts such as embroidery or pottery. Students are also taught how to ‘deconstruct’ secular knowledge and identify ideas and approaches that contradict Islamic beliefs. Moreover, the schools are segregated after the primary level and female teachers and students are required to wear hijab.

At the Korangi-based school, the administration even tries to ensure that students are taught by teachers of the same sex, though that is not always possible. Morning assemblies begin with Quranic recitations and references to hadith. At Generation’s, the bottom of every staircase is adorned with a poster reminding students to say ‘Allahoakbar’ before ascending.

Given the unique curricular requirements of value-based schools, it is not surprising that teachers complain of a dearth of appropriate learning materials. ‘We try to screen out texts that don’t fit, but we still have to make do with what’s available in the market,’ concedes Murad.

To address the shortfall, Star Links has launched a publishing house, Flowers of Islam, that promotes products that conflate secular and Islamic learning.

Accessible, brightly coloured books on Ramadan and Haj are complemented by Quranic story books, workbooks and flash cards. For example, one set of flashcards teaches students which animals are mentioned in the Quran while an Islamic card game has students ‘pick and pair’ duas and hadith.

Along with curricular materials, value-based schools must invest heavily in teacher training. In addition to regular professional development courses through AKU’s Institute for Educational Development and the Teachers’ Resource Centre, teachers study the Quran and hadith, Islamic history and geography as well as personal skills such as self-awareness.

‘Our teachers learn as much as our students,’ says Murad. ‘The school is an invitation for all to seek Islamic knowledge and change for the better.’

Ultimately, value-based schools do not think that their model for education should be considered exemplary, or in any way marginalised. ‘All schools are Islamic,’ insists Murad. ‘They’re run by Muslims, aren’t they?’

For educationists outside the system, however, such schools raise the same questions as the debate about the separation of church and state. Farhana Sajjad, who teaches class one at Bayview Academy, admits that there isn’t adequate emphasis on character building at her school.

‘We should promote values such as honesty and hard work,’ she says, ‘but why bring Islamic verses into it? We all have different ways of looking at religion so the main religious instruction should come from the home.’

Staff members at value-based schools admit that Sajjad’s opinion is prevalent. ‘We are still struggling with the concept that Islamic schooling means being deprived of a modern education,’ says Murad.

For her part, Dr. Siddiqui, whose school, the first value-based institution in Karachi, has grown tremendously over the past 19 years, is more optimistic. ‘Genuine change occurs over centuries. That’s why our target is not people who already subscribe to Islamic values. It’s people on the other side – we want them to get a taste of culture so that they eventually adopt it.’

(Source: DAWN)