Muis launches public education and fund-raising portal to support madrasahs

As private schools, madrasahs are co-funded by the community, their stakeholders and Muis. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has launched a public education and centralised fund-raising portal - OurMadrasah.sg - to support the six full-time madrasahs in Singapore.

The move comes after various fund-raising events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Muis said on Friday (Dec 4), disclosing that this has resulted in a potential loss of about $2.5m for the madrasahs.

Madrasahs are institutions that incorporate Islamic knowledge and values on top of formal education that is compulsory in Singapore.

Muis has said that they play an important role in developing in future generations of asatizahs (Islamic educators), and leaders of the Muslim community with a strong grounding in both religious and secular subjects.

As private schools, madrasahs are co-funded by the community, their stakeholders and Muis and typically, the money is raised from fundraising and donation drives, including the collection from the congregation during Friday prayers.

The funds go towards paying for student programmes, staff development and operational costs.

But with Covid-19, Muis said madrasahs are facing a double whammy: a drop in funds raised and a rise in operational costs because they have to spend more on sanitising and thermometers, among others, to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Muis said in a statement that the new portal includes how to make donations and how the money collected will support the operations of the madrasahs.

People can choose to donate to specific madrasahs, or to "all madrasahs in general" via credit card, eNets, Paynow or by Giro.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.