ABSTRACT
Introduction In 2004, there were over 1000 applicants vying for 400 places at the Madrasah AlJunied (Suzaina, 2005: 13). This is already an increase over the reported 800 applicants for the same 400 places in 2000 (Singapore Straits Times, 3 June 2000). This full-time madrasah, which is Malay for Islamic religious school, along with five other similar madrasahs in Singapore, had been facing strong demand for places for nearly a decade (Singapore Straits Times, 1 March 1998). The logical course of action would be to expand the madrasah system to accommodate the growing demand. However, this is not possible in contemporary Singapore. The state maintains that full-time madrasahs are solely for the purposes of training Singapore’s future Islamic clerics, administrators and scholars. As such, the state has calculated that the enrolment in the six existing madrasahs is sufficient to train these specialists each year. All other Muslim children are expected to attend the many schools in the national educational system.
