RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND WESTERN EDUCATION AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Islamic and Western educations are two systems of education that can never walk on the same path. A good number of Muslim students all around the world receive some if not all of their formal education in a madrasah. Generally, a madrasah gives elementary school children/ young Muslims a religious foundation in Qur’anic recitation and Islamic values. Most of the Muslim children receive Islamic education as their only source of formal education, while for some; it is an added advantage to nonreligious basic education provided in primary and secondary school. Over the years, Islamic education has become a torn in Western education’s flesh and a concern, and to a large extent for political reasons. On the side of Western education, Islamic education is a bad influence on elementary school children.

Western or nonreligious education system views education as a catalyst for growth; it also views education as the breath of life, and as a means of individual and national enhancement. It also perceives education as a part of consistent and harmonious human existence and wellbeing just as the case in Islamic world view. In the western view, a knowledge of sciences, technology or business owe lot of importance and priority than other religious and social studies, this is also confirmed in the words ofRosnani in 2004 “the nonreligious world view at the root of the modern nonreligious system does not take into consideration the correlation between God and the human being as intellectually or socially important, thus the revealed knowledge is not considered as a source of knowledge, they are looked down on, even when modern nonreligious subjects are introduced in the curriculum for the traditional older system”. The main source in this form of education is to a large extent dependent on the ability of human to reason, human psychological thinking, mere observation, experimentation and examination through theories or practice.

Over the years, Islamic education’s contribution to the educational sector has been ignoredirrespective of the compact network of institutions of Islamic instruction expanding from the village school to regional study centers and even foreign states.  Islamic system of education has operated in cities like Kenya long before the colonial period and since then has remained relatively at the outside edge of educational policies. Of specific interest to this research, the nonformal education system addresses a good number of issuestogether with opportunities. Therefore, for successful growth and implementation of any project, it is necessary to have basic socio-cultural well filtered information about the target group.

At the base of chasing after knowledge is the zest for search of Islamic religious education. Muslims are encouraged in another prophetic tradition to seek for Islamic religious knowledge. Prophet Muhammad said “whoever Allah wants good for him then He will teach him the religion”. It is from this religious backdrop that Islam parents feel obliged to send their children to Qur’anic schools in order to align the behavior of the children to concur with Islamic teachings. Islamic education is viewed by parents to be a majorprocess in raising Muslim children to be responsible citizens and encouraging of unity and loyalty among Muslim communities.Islamic and western or modern system views education differently and made unrelated provisions towards the growth of mankind as one prepares more of spiritual and the other focuses highly on the physical and material wellbeing. The two system of education are accepted in Muslim countries, though one is partially accepted.

STATEMENT OF THE GENERAL PROBLEM

The poor performances of pupils in both Islamic and western education overtime in Nigeria had been a cause for major concern. These poor performances has had a terrible effect in secondary school education as pupils who should have been a solid foundation in elementary schools are not which would make it difficult for them to perform academically when they find themselves in secondary schools. This has by extension negatively affected the educational sector of the Nigeria.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the relationship between performances in Islamic and western education among elementary schools in Nigeria. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. To examine the role of teachers in enhancing pupils academic performances in both Islamic and western education.
2. To examine other factors that influence pupils’ academic performance in both western and Islamic education.
3. To assess the level of effectiveness of the teaching of these subjects in elementary schools.
4. To examine the relationship between the performance of Islamic education and western education among pupils in Nigeria.
5. To recommend ways of improving pupils’ academic performance in these subjects.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the role of teachers in enhancing pupils academic performances in both Islamic and western education?
2. What other factors influence pupils’ academic performance in both western and Islamic education?
3. What is the level of effectiveness of the teaching of these subjects in elementary schools?
4. What is the relationship between the performance of Islamic education and western education among pupils in Nigeria?
5. What are the ways of improving pupils’ academic performance in these subjects?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: There is no significant relationship between performance in Islamic education and western education among elementary schools in Nigeria.

H1: There is a significant relationship between performance in Islamic education and western education among elementary schools in Nigeria.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study would be of immense importance to primary school authorities, teachers and other educational stakeholders as it would reveal the relationship between academic performances of Islamic education and western education among pupils in Nigeria. the study would also benefit students, researchers and scholars who are interested in the study.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to the relationship between performance in Islamic education and western education among elementary school pupils in Nigeria, using selected elementary schools in Lagos as a case study.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.