My Youngest Going To ' Full Boarding School'

My youngest daughter Cik Su is preparing to go to the 'asrama'. I have not been involved in her preparation. It is done by her eldest sister Kin and second sister Ude. After taking care of the other 8 children all these years I am happy to relinquish the job to Kin. Anyway my husband and I are busy doing more important things. We are making sure that when the school opens in January, everything is ready for the start of the 08 session.

Kin and Ude are making sure Cik Su has everything will need for her asrama stay. It does not matter that the asrama is just walking distance round the corner from our house. It also does not matter that the full boarding school that she's going to is her father's school. Yes! Cik Su is going to study at MTAQSA. This has been the plan since we opened the school. She is lucky that we have opened the school or else by now she would have been shipped off to Cairo to join her fourth sister Yanna who is studying at the Al Azhar College for foreign students. Yanna has been there for 4 years now, doing her secondary education.

Cik Su will be subject to the same rules as the other students. She is not allowed to come home unless the the school calendar shows that is 'leave - go home day'. Parents are only allowed to visit their children once a fortnight. I hope this will work out for Cik Su because if we do not follow the school rules it will be difficult to decipline her. This is also the way to keep the children focus on their studies especilly the 'hafazan' ie the memorising of the Quran. The students in our school have to memorize one page of the Quran daily in the beginning later some may advance to 2 pages daily. They will complete the whole Quran when they are in form 3 or form 4. At form 4 and form 5, they will focus for the SPM exam ( targetting exellent results).

When I see our students able to carry all their subjects and show great interest and are well deciplined, I have to take my hat off for them, (tabik spring!). At my age I am not able to memorize even the 99 names of Allah (Asma ul Husna) without difficulty, what more to memorize the pages of the Quran! In this matter it is very true as the Malay saying goes "Nak melentur buluh hendaklah dari rebungnya! It means that if you want to bend the bamboo, it must be done when its young or bamboo shoot stage!"

It is heartening no note that of late many young parents are very concerned about their children education and upbringing. They came to consult us about their childrens' education even as early as when the child is 7 years old. So some of them have made their booking to place their children in our school in the future. Our school offers 3 curriculums, ie The Quranic studies and Hafazan, the religious subjects (13 subjects in form 1 ), and the academic subjects ie maths, science, english, bahasa Melayu and history (form 1 to form 3) In form 4 and 5 their subjects will be according to their stream eg they will do add maths, modern maths, biology, physics, chemistry and others if they intend to take up medicine, engineering or to be a pilot. As it is, most of our students intend to do the sciences.

It would not be difficult to acheive whatever they want to be, since by that time they would have completed their memorizing of the Quran and the religious knowlege and practice is already ingrained within them. With all that and the decipline that we have imposed upon them, Insya Allah they will be great leaders and useful citizens of the future!