Learners of the Tahderiyyah Curriculum Program of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) now have the chance to call themselves completers through the catch-up curriculum developed by pool of writers and experts commissioned for the program.

This enhanced curriculum is presented and finalized on January 7, 2014 at Cotabato City. Purpose of which is to consolidate the curriculum with the Islamic context and Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) context.

Ms. Jing Pascual, Education Specialist from Community of Learners Foundation (COLF) facilitated the activity. According to her, the Tahderiyyah Curriculum is already recognized by DepEd, thus pre-schoolers who graduated from Tahderiyyah Madaris (plural form for Madrasah or Islamic School) which adopt such curriculum are admissible to regular elementary school.

The enhanced Tahderriyah curriculum is set to be implemented this coming March to May 2014. It will be implemented in 140 out 500 Madaris across the 7 regions of BDA under the Phase 2 Implementation of the program.

They are developed by curriculum writers who are composed of consultants from Tarbiyyah Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They are Asatidz ((plural form for Ustadz or Arabic Teacher) together with some professors from Talaynged Foundation. The Asatidz provide the expertise on Islamic education while the teachers provide the regular education aspect offered in the country.

“We are very happy that next summer, March to May, the children can already avail of the services to be offered under the BDA-UNICEF- AusAID project on Tahderriyah, Engr. Windel P. Diangcalan said. He is the Head of BDA Programs Division.

In a statement, BDA staff Ms. Naima M.Usop told in one of their meetings that Tahderriyah program is one of a kind. She expressed her gratitude that this program came into being and even added that “the most loved program, if there could be any, is the Tahderriyah” because it caters not just the present but the future of the Bangsamoro.

“We really appreciate that our next generation will be provided with adequate information not only of acquired but more so of the revealed knowledge at an early stage of their lives” she further stressed.

The Tahderiyyah Curriculum Program of BDA aims to facilitate easy access to quality Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) services and Basic Education to the Bangsamoro communities.

It creatively blends Universal Values and the principles/science of early childhood care and development, (ECCD) supports the advocacy and mandates of the Education for All (EFA) and the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) of DepEd.

The program was piloted in 2009 and now being implemented in three (300) hundred Madaris across six (6) regions (Central Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Ranaw, Zamboanga Peninsula, Zamboanga and Basilan, and Davao Region). On its Phase 2 Operation, the program expanded into seven (7) regions covering 500 Madaris.