In the large, Muslim-majority southern island, the Catholic University of Davao is networking with Koranic schools to teach the value of interreligious dialogue in schools. The objective is social peace in one of the areas of greatest tension in the country.
Manila () – In the southern Philippines, where the majority of the population is Muslim, a Catholic university run by the Jesuits has been promoting dialogue and social peace through education for some years. It is called Madaris Volunteer Program (MVP), and it is a joint initiative of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Davao University, and its objective is the promotion of interreligious and intrareligious dialogue. The “Madaris” (plural of madrasah) – the traditional Islamic schools that teach Arabic, the Koran and Islamic principles -, the Department of the Presidential Adviser for Peace, Reconciliation and Unity and the National Association for Bangsamoro Education support the initiative of the Jesuits in collaboration with the regional government of Mindanao. “The objective is to support and promote education. We believe that it is fundamental to advance in the culture of respect between confessions, common welfare and peace”, explains the Jesuit Joel E. Tabora, president of the National Advisory Commission of the Philippine university.
In order to provide high-quality education and incorporate the values of inclusion and peace into the disciplines taught, the university sends trained instructors and volunteers to “madari” schools, especially in the Bangsamoro territories. Brother Tabora adds: “Together we can create a more harmonious society for all. At Bangsamoro we work to improve the lives of students and communities.”
The Madaris Volunteer Program aspires to create a new atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation and shared learning between Islamic and Catholic schools especially where the poorest communities live, which have the lowest literacy rates in the country.
It also offers a wide variety of teacher training courses that will support teachers in madaris by living for months in local communities and villages. In this way Koranic schools, while teaching, will indirectly promote an effective campaign for interreligious dialogue.
Meetings and exchanges between people of different religions, explain the promoters, are essential to foster cultural sensitivity and build lasting peace in Bangsamoro and Mindanao, because they start in the classroom. Currently there are 11 madaris collaborating with the Jesuit educational project in the cities of Cotabato and Lamitan and in the province of Maguindanao. After decades of conflict and disorder in Mindanao – over unresolved issues from the colonial era, combined with Muslim demands for independence – a more peaceful future seems to be in sight for the first time. “This project focuses on peace education and fosters intercultural and interreligious understanding through the relationships we are building between teachers, students and Madari communities,” concludes Bai Fatima, a student at the Datu Ibrahim Paglas institute. which is part of the MVP network.
Photo: Gesuit Global
