Bandar Seri Begawan - Religious textbooks for primary one to six students in Brunei Darussalam have been given a fresh new look for 2008.
By February, it is expected that copies of all 36 new textbooks will be distributed to religious schools throughout the country.
According to Hjh Fatimah bte Hj Abd Ghani, the Assistant Director of Islamic Studies, the textbooks have been designed to make it more appealing to Muslim students, as the contents of the textbooks, including illustrations, have been revised according to students` age level.
"At the moment copies of 29 new textbooks have been published," Hjh Fatimah said, adding that copies of the remaining seven new textbooks will be ready sometime in February.
The move to replace old religious textbooks in the country was part of an initiative mooted by the Minister of Religious Affairs, Pehin Dato Seri Utama Dr Ustaz Awang Hj Mohd Zain, to improve the quality of religious education in the country.
This initiative began to take shape following a breakthrough at a seminar on teaching and learning at religious schools, which was held on February 5, 2006.
A number of committees were formed between May 2006 and July 2007 to oversee the success of this initiative such as a working committee chaired by Dato Paduka Awang Hj Abdul Rahman, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a committee on reviewing and analysing the textbooks chaired by Dato Paduka Awang Hj Ishaaq bin Hj Abdullah, the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and a panel in charge of proofreading jawi in the textbooks.
Religious teachers, as well as officers from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, State Mufti, Language and Literature Bureau, were among those who contributed to the new textbooks.
Source: www.brudirect.com (18 Januari 2008)
