A 10-year-old scheme to help Muslim Singaporeans assess and recognise qualified asatizah, or religious teachers, will be expanded.

The Asatizah Recognition Scheme, which recognises Islamic teachers who meet minimum standards to teach the religion here, will reach out to all asatizah, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.

Currently, about 80 per cent of asatizah here are under the scheme, which began in 2005 and has certified about 1,700 religious teachers. Those who are not on the scheme include older teachers, who may not have had structured religious education, and informally trained younger teachers.

“We must provide assurance to our community that those who provide religious guidance have the proper qualifications and training,” said Dr Yaacob, who is Minister for Communications and Information.

The Asatizah Recognition Board and the Singapore Islamic scholars and religious teachers association (Pergas), which oversee the recognition scheme, are working with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) to extend it.

… Mr Alami Musa, head of the Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the topics could include Islamic law, and controversial hudud criminal laws.