ASEAN chief suggests dual-tracked curricular for Islamic schools

BANGKOK, July 19 (TNA) - ASEAN Secretary General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan has stressed the importance of a dual-tracked educational system for Islamic schools in Thailand to, especially, instill peace in the Thai far South and to prepare Thai Muslim graduates for the formation of a single economic community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015. As an alumni of an oldest Islamic school in Thailand, Pondok Bantan, Dr Surin, who is a former Thai foreign minister, insisted that it is important that Thai Muslim students understand not only Islamic principles, but also modern knowledge, suggesting that the so-called dual-tracked educational system, a combination of secular and Islamic religious classes, should help the Muslim students, particularly in the Thai deep South, earn their own living in various careers and firmly engage in the more complex labour market, once the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is established. The ASEAN chief made the comments at an event held at Pondok Bantan School in Thailand's southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Wednesday, themed the “convergence of the two streams of knowledge”, at which some 5,000 participants from the Muslim community nationwide, as well as distinguish guests and the general public attended, to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of one of the oldest traditional Muslim schools in Thailand. The event, also organized to honor outstanding alumni and to prepare younger generations for the forthcoming regional integration in less than three years ahead. To fast forward the transition, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has benignly accepted 19 Islamic schools under the royal patronage and direct management, coupled with the Thai government’s policy on providing them with class resources to include the formerly excluded into the national educational mainstream. Many pondoks in the Thai southern border region have been accused of implanting separatist ideas to young Muslims. The ASEAN chief, however, expressed his confidence that the initiative on the dual-educational systems would produce good citizens who help create a climate of peace in the society. (TNA)