21st Century Islamic Education In Southern Thailand And Pondok: System, Conditions and Challenges

Abstract

The study focuses on the Islamic school Pondok of the southern provinces of Thailand. These schools, which is a traditional institution of religious learning and piety, has experienced conflicts and contestations throughout the twentieth century.  This study examines the development of Muslim minority education in 3 southern Thailand provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat which indeed face dynamic and struggle to maintain a combination of national interest and local needs. 130 students were instruments to collect data. A qualitative approach was applied to conducting research. 150 participants comprising 130 students and 20 informants of expert teachers, school administrators, curriculum designers and Ministry of Education Officers took part in the study. 5 Likert Scale of Islamic School Assessment Scale (ISAS) questionnaire comprising 15 items was the instrument to collect data. ISAS was formulated by the researchers based on the responses of in-depth interviews of the said 20 informants. The results of the study indicate that Pondok which continue to expand especially in the 3 southern Thailand provinces, has been improving skills and mechanisms to implement 21^st Thailand educational reforms envisioned and promoted by Thailand movement which endeavors vigorously to implement the system and program in all educational institutions throughout Thailand for the new generations to be equipped with adequate skills to tackle the globalizations challenges. The study concludes that the contestations and negotiations with the Thai government are about the development of the local Malay people's modern identity within Thailand. This suggests that the introduction of such government tailored curricula have their ups and downs in empowering the Malay-speaking population by supplying them with the cultural tools to contest and civically negotiate their position, culture and heritage within the Kingdom. The study additionally provides a history of these schools and their political relationship to the Thai government's policies, as well as an update of events relating to the schools during the recent periods of Thai educational reforms.