TERM 2000-2003

Striving for Excellence in Education by President Dr. Hasnain Walji

Striving for Excellence in Education, a Call-to-Action for the Term of Education - 2000-2003.

Presented at the First Executive Council Meeting held on 27th. January 2001 at Stanmore.

Mission Statement

“To ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence and love of knowledge in every field throughout the community”

Preamble:

Today’s society has little room for those who cannot read, write and learn new technologies, skills and occupations and our community is not immune from this. We must be alive to this fact and provide every opportunity for our community to master all the modern technical skills and at the same time have an interest in the whole range of human wisdom and creativity which deals with life and death, beauty and truth, sincerity and compassion.

During this term, which has been declared as the Term of Education, the World Federation has set the following priorities and targets:

1. Availability of quality Primary and Secondary education. Target: All Community Schools
2. By eighteen years of age, our boys and girls are prepared for placement in institution of higher learning or vocational training centers. Target: All Between Ages of 18-25.
3. Drive towards a technologically literate community. Target: All Jamaats.
4. Special provision for gifted children and students of outstanding abilities. Targets: All Jamaats.
5. Special provisions for children with hearing and other disabilities. Target: All Jamaats
6. Promoting Adult Education. Target: All Jamaats
7. Intellectual Social and Emotional Integration. Target: Students in Western Universities.

Meeting these seven priorities requires action on all fronts to ensure that the greatest number of people buy into the vision we need to implement. Our Greatest Challenge is convincing the Community to buy into this vision

Fund for higher education, in our community, dates back to the fifties. However, the amount of money given for education is not increasing as fast as the need. Individual support is lagging while the expectation from WF is growing.

Despite these constraints, the World Federation, through its Jaffery Education Scheme and the Zainabiya Child Sponsorship has had a very creditable performance both in basic and higher education. During this tern WF needs to invest even greater resources in education for our young men as well as women, both in the East and the West, to ensure that they do not lag behind for the want of means and facilities.

At the same time, those who were given education loans have started to pay back. By there are many who are not paying back. By encouraging more and more of these ex-students to repay and even contribute, Inshallah WF can redeploy these funds for more loans.

Transforming Vision to Reality, by President Dr. Hasnain Walji

Presented at the First Executive Council Meeting held on 27th. January 2001 at Stanmore.

The purpose of this master document is to state the plans and projects for the term 2000-2003 and seek the support from the community to turn this collective vision into action. This document incorporates the vision of Conference 2000 and is a result of months of detailed deliberations by the team at the secretariat. It is an attempt at defining the direction envisaged during the term 2000-2003. I now invite the Community at large to enroll in that vision and urge your active participation and input.

World Federation Mission Statement:

The World Federation aims “to create an environment for the betterment of the community and to nurture individuals, who will serve humanity to seek closeness to Allah S.W.T. in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) and Aimmah (AS)”.

Conference Vision: The packed house of Conference 2000 demonstrated yet again, that the community across the globe not only expects the World Federation to deliver the highest level of services but also actively participates in that delivery process. In keeping with the consensus developed during the keynote session, which was devoted to the Vision for the Community, activities of the WF will be carried out in the spirit espoused by Conference as reaffirmed below:

1. Core Values of World Federation
   1. Serve with Simplicity and sincerity
   2. Strive for excellence in all fields especially in education
   3. Enable and facilitate all community in endeavors
   4. Engage grassroots
   5. Prevent duplication and support local and innovation
2. Short Term Goals
   1. Executive Council becomes a strategic body that provides for planning and oversight.
   2. Boards across all organizations to be the engine for action, planning and delivery. The WF executive Council would act as a central strategic resource.
   3. Individual Boards to involve youths and women in all its workings.
   4. The focus for the new term should be to develop leadership, mentoring and succession planning at all levels of our community organizations.
   5. Encourage International youth and women’s forums and Conference.
   6. WF leadership to visit each member organization at least once during the term of office to stay in touch with the community needs.
3. Long term Goals
   1. Education for all
   2. Health care for all
   3. Self-sufficiency for all
   4. Representation for all
   5. Effective leadership for all
4. A Shared Vision: Realization of our vision must be in spirit of the collectivity of purpose. Together we can make a difference by envisioning the WF as a uniting force that conceptualizes projects in the service of the community, and woks with the regional bodies and local organizations in their implementation and evaluation. This document is a result of the shared vision of the team at the Secretariat. It is an attempt at defining the direction and enumerates the projects for the term 2000-2003. WF now invites the Community at large to enroll in that vision by participation and input.
5. Project Profiles
   1. Sharing the Gift of Islam with all – WF IEB: The mission of the WF- Islamic Education Board is to share the gift of Islam with all. Objectives being:
      1. To focus on ensuring that the IEB houses a specialist Quran Library
      2. To ensure www.quran.org.uk is dynamic
      3. To raise the community’s awareness of the Quran (adopting thematic approach)
      4. To develop and encourage the next generation of Zakereens
      5. To identify a paid network in Quran for the purpose of posing questions to our Ulema
      6. To continue the present lecture formats of radio broadcast
      7. To have a paid support to the office for queries arising from the radio programme
      8. To collate all lectures presented in the radio broadcast as a compendia/resource material for Zakereens
      9. To create 14 niche sites for Masoomeen along the lines of quran.org
      10. To categorize all the URLs on Masoomeen and connect via the internet
      11. To develop an IEB site separate from WF for the purpose of Tableegh
      12. TO publishtextbooks for Madressa and university students, and book on how to combat ideological differences. Also translate Khazinatul Jawahir by Aliakber Nathawandi
      13. To investigate the possibility of GCSE in Islam (modifying to accept the Shia perspective) with existing networks
      14. To commission Chichester Institute of Higher Education to develop a certificated teaching programme for teachers with the intention that in 2 years it can be done via the distance learning
      15. To develop an examination for Madressa students
      16. To provide a systematic framework of Islamic knowledge that outlines the proposed curriculum based on key stages
      17. To collate all missing videos/audios of Mulla Asgher and place them in a library for use
      18. To develop audio/video as separate entity within IEB in Birmingham solely for the purpose of propagation
      19. To provide sites to such information via the IEB Internet site
      20. To increase the number of Muballigheen by suggesting this as a profession by providing scholarships and bursaries
      21. To increase the level of financial assistance provided to Muballigheen
      22. TO provide 2 months training in the west for Muballigheen after 5 years study at Howza.
      23. To develop a framework for “Sponsor a Muballigh” along similar lines to “Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme”.
      24. To develop an assessment tool to support the selection criteria of Muballigh
      25. To continue financial support with the present Summer Qum programme for students from Europe/Africa and America
      26. To provide syllabus for the summer Qum programme
      27. To continue present work world-wide in the different non-Khoja communities
      28. To identify Shia Islamic books that should be available via all local and university libraries
      29. To support Jamaats to undertake interfaith activities
      30. To transform present accommodation at IEB Dar-al-Tableegh into a state-of-the-art learning resource Centre
   2. Striving For Excellence in Education – WF CETAB: The mission of WF CETAB is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence and love of knowledge in every field throughout the community. WF CETAB supports each stage of the educational and career life cycle, starting from school age through to continuing education whilst pursuing a career. The Objectives being:
      1. Availability of quality primary and secondary education
      2. To prepare and place all 18 year old boys and girls in institution of higher learning or vocational training centers
      3. To identify and assist gifted children and students of outstanding abilities
      4. To identify needs and assist in education of children with disabilities
      5. To promote intellectual, social and emotional integration of students in western universities
      6. To assist the students in their choices of careers
      7. To promote the need for training and encourage community to participate
      8. To provide our community with information on job opportunities
   3. Combating Illiteracy – WF – ZCSS: The mission of the WF Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme is to combat Illiteracy. Objectives being:
      1. To build a compound wall for Alipur School and Teachers Quarters
      2. To build Zainabiya Institute for Potenahally, with fully furnished classrooms
      3. To construct boys schools adjacent to the present school in Alipur
      4. To construct Gulistan-e-Shaikh Mofid
      5. To build teachers quarters in Khujwa
      6. To take 45 new graduate students
   4. Promoting Health and fighting disease – WF - MAB: The mission of the WF Medical Advisory Board is to promote health and fight disease by providing 1. A strategic lead to our community organizations in matters of health care 2. A lead in enabling health care professionals to network with each other and this network to provide resource to our community healthcare projects. 3. To empower regional or Jamaat health boards to advise and provide where necessary health care advise and treatment. The Objectives being:
      1. Involvement of Youths and Ladies at MAB Secretariat
      2. To empower MAC (Medical Advisory Committee of Council of European Jamaats) to take over the UK screening programme and to assist in developing a worldwide screening.

To work with other regional boards and encourage them to conduct screening if they are not already doing so.

1. 1. 1. To empower the Hajj organization from India and Pakistan to take over and provide health care to Hujjaj.
      2. Patient Care; MAB will investigate and recommend alternative cheaper but equal quality healthcare in those countries.
      3. WF-MAB will set up an evaluation process to measure success of all its projects and lessons learnt, so that WF-MAB can extend projects elsewhere required.
      4. WF-MAB will continue to collect medicines and equipment’s from donors and arranges to send to the needy refugees in Iran, Iraq & East Africa.
      5. From WF-MAB experience and data further research and publications to be undertaken.
      6. To co-operate with other Muslim organizations who share the same goal and philosophy.
      7. To support health care workers.
      8. To provide health education within the community.
      9. To continue to provide primary health care education in Govandi, Patna and Bangalore.
   2. World Wide Federation Web – WF IT & New Media Desk: The mission of the IT and New Media Desk is to enable all World Federations activities to operate on highest possible efficiency using state of the art technology. The Objectives being:
      1. Migrate to de dedicated web server and modernize the computers used in WF.
      2. Put historical records on the site.
      3. To improve the services for the internal network.
   3. Gathering Data and Using Information – WF Research and Development Desk: The mission of the WF Research and DevelopmentDesk is to collate material on WF projects, present data in graphical format and produce reports with an analysis of the data. The Objectives being:
      1. Development of a demographic database of our membership throughout the world.
      2. To obtain information/documents relating to community assets of the World Federation and its membership.
      3. To collate material on WF Projects.
   4. Interacting with the rest – WF External Liaison Desk: The mission of the WF External Liaison Desk is to interact with non-Muslim organizations, government agencies, and International organizations. The Objectives being:
      1. To establish appropriate network with government agencies, Muslims and Non-Muslim organizations.
      2. To obtain Non-Governmental Organization status (NGO)
      3. To respond to Negative Media Coverage.