Essentials of Islam: Post Lockdown learning Catch Up
Assalamo Alaikum dear parents,
We pray you are in the best of health and Imaan InshaAllah.
Alhamdulillah by the grace of Allah we were able to maintain our journey of Qur’anic recitation/hifz for a vast majority of our students through online learning. However, as we now return to normality there are a few points I want to share with you all please:
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As an institute we were forced to introduce online learning (due to covid) but this is NOT our preferred method of teaching. The Qur’an is an oral recitation tradition passed on from teacher to teacher through a physical presence.
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We are now starting to withdraw the online lessons especially where we see that a student is not fully achieving their potential. This we are realising through daily reports teachers are sending us and I am concerned at the lack of progress of many students who for whatever reason are not achieving what they should be. For us, online teaching is a simple and much easier process compared to physical teaching however we are extremely passionate about standards and fulfilling our role as responsible educators. We will never compromise on standards.
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From next week (start of school term) we will be recalling many students back to the masjid to attend physically. I understand that for some parents travelling is an issue but unless there is substantial progress in learning, online learning will not be allowed. Unfortunately, too many parents are not supervising their children online and in fact many are unaware whether their children are even logging on. A culture of complacency has set in for many students and parents. Even those students that are logging on are reading a basic minimum and then logging off, to fulfil a formality.
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Alhamdulillah on the positive side, the vast majority of our Qur’an students read very well as for the last year and a half, our focus was Qur’an recitation. This was maintained by our teachers and in particular our team of teachers from Egypt and elsewhere. We still retain these teachers but we do not want to become an online system only at the expense of quality physical teaching and the vibe and atmosphere of learning in the masjid. There is more to learning then Qur’an recitation only, I’m sure you will all agree.
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As the focus has just been on Qur’an our students have forgotten or at least need to know their Salah, Duas, Adhkaars, Salatul Janazah, Ayatul Kursi etc as well as a conceptual understanding of Islam. In fact we have an Adhkaar booklet (parts 1 and 2) that have all these essentials that have been neglected over the last year and a half. We cannot have a situation where students are good reciters of the Qur’an or Huffaaz yet don’t know these essentials. To know here means to know in Arabic and English. It is unfortunate that before the pandemic we had taught hundreds of students the salah with the translation yet now very few remember this. Many children, it seems, are not praying at home with their parents yet some parents complain that their children don’t know salah! We will teach all our Qur’an students (who can read Arabic) salah once again and inform parents once this is done so they are witness to the fact that they are now responsible for maintaining the Salah. Also after the Salah each student must learn how to say a Dua in Arabic and English. This so we can all, as families help reconnect with Allah Ta’Aala. I will then initiate a salah tracking system to check that all students are praying with your support at home.