3,500 madrasah students to benefit from special Covid-19 disbursement

About 3,500 madrasah students will benefit from a special Covid-19 disbursement of $500,000 from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) to the six full-time Islamic religious schools here.

This one-off disbursement, in view of the challenges faced by the madrasah sector during the pandemic, will go towards supporting their student programmes, said Muis yesterday.

The six madrasahs are:

• Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah ($76,459);
• Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah ($41,246);
• Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah ($43,490);
• Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah ($167,649);
• Madrasah Al-Ma'arif Al-Islamiah ($96,240) and
• Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah ($74,916).

This support will be used for student programmes based on each school's needs, with the quantum based on enrolment size.

Madrasahs, which are private schools, rely heavily on the support of the community, said Muis.

They are supported through school fees and grants from various sources such as the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund as well as government funding.

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Madrasahs also regularly undertake fund-raising to supplement the shortfall in the school's operational and student programme needs.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, several external fund-raising events had to be suspended or cancelled. It was also more difficult for donors to make donations physically.

This has resulted in a substantial shortfall in revenue from typical fund-raising sources and donation drives, such as collections during Friday congregational prayers, Muis said.

Calling madrasahs key institutions for the Muslim community, Muis chief executive Esa Masood said: "This disbursement signifies Muis' continued support for our madrasahs.

"We urge the community to rally and continue to stand in solidarity with our madrasahs so that they can continue the important work to nurture the next generation of asatizah (religious teachers) to guide our community."