The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) will inject $1 million in training credits for 4,900 religious teachers (asatizah) certified under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS).
The initiative was announced on Saturday by Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli.
In a virtual address to senior asatizah, Mr Masagos, who is also Second Minister for Health, rallied them to take advantage of available developmental opportunities that would strengthen the fraternity and help them lead the Muslim community and contribute to the larger Singaporean society.
He also announced that the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) panel will review and refresh its curriculum to enhance the professionalism of religious teachers under the ARS.
Led by Deputy Mufti Mohammad Hannan Hassan, the seven-member expert panel consists of religious teachers involved in various fields.
Since last month, the panel has been engaging stakeholder groups - including asatizah doing full-time, part-time and freelance work - as well as employers and professionals who will be involved in providing guidance and input in skills development.
CPE is a training programme to enhance the professionalism of asatizah under the ARS and to inculcate a culture of continual learning and development within the fraternity.
An asatizah is required to undergo courses under the CPE programme as a prerequisite for renewal of ARS accreditation.
Muis works closely with its partners to offer a wide range of such courses covering topics such as religious sciences and other disciplines, including ones on contemporary issues.
Under the new initiative, each asatizah will be given $200 worth of credits to offset the cost of CPE courses after the SkillsFuture subsidy.
Asatizah can use the credits to enrol in courses under five skill categories that were identified by Muis - digital literacy; digital marketing; technology-enabled learning and delivery; grit and resilience; and personal development, teamwork and collaboration.
These credits, which must be utilised by December next year, will complement existing government upskilling schemes and employers' training support.
Registration for courses will start on Sept 21 at www.ars.sg
