Examinning the relevance of the Islamic private school curriculum (Madrasah) in South-Western Nigeria : a case study of Islamic preaching school, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the relevance of the curriculum of Islamic Preaching School, (Madrasah al-Da`awah al-Islamiyah), Ibadan, South-Western Nigeria to the current educational goals in Nigeria. It equally investigated the extent to which the curriculum of the school is being implemented. The areas that were considered include the teaching methods, the structure of the curriculum and the textbooks. Two methodologies were adopted at the course of the study. Both methods are questionnaires and interview. The samples of questionnaires for the study comprise 300 students and 30 teachers. Moreover, the interview method was purposefully selected the principal, vice principal and stakeholders (that is, 10 students, 2 parents and 2 `ulama’. The findings of the study show that most of the teachers of the school lack the minimum qualification for teaching profession in the country. The major observation on the curriculum was that it needs to be reviewed as it is no more relevant to the educational goals of the country. The indication of the lack relevancy of the curriculum is that some of subjects are difficult to be understood from students, the required textbooks are outdated and it does not contain modern teaching methods. The participants generally accepted that for improvement of the madrasah, some changes have to be effected. Courses taught in English language such as Mathematics, Science and English language have all mentioned to be introduced. Though, Arabic has also been identified to be one of the major languages of instruction to prepared students well to have more access to Islamic textbooks in their original language. In conclusion, the researcher suggested that the curriculum of the school needs to be reviewed, the teachers need to upgrade their qualification to meet the current required standard, and on the government needs to support IPS financially as well as other Islamic schools that are components of the nation’s educational institutions.