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Transcript of Rahmatina Awaliah Kasri
Islamic Economics Higher Education: A Critical Survey
Rahmatina Awaliah Kasri1
Islamic Economics and Business Center / Department of Economics, University of Indonesia
Kampus Baru Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Jawa Barat, Indonesia E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]
Abstract
The development of Islamic economics, banking and finance leads to the need for
high quality human resources. However, this expectation is yet to be fulfilled by
education institutions. Some scholars even criticize the current development of
education institution teaching Islamic economics. In view of these, there is a need
to evaluate the current practice of Islamic economic teaching and identify the
problems and challenges faced by the institutions. This study finds that most of
Islamic economics education institutions adopt the commodification approach and
the surface-learning method driven by market demand in developing their
curriculum. Furthermore, curriculum structure differs among various universities
offering MBA/MA/MSc programs in Islamic economics, banking and finance in
Asian, Middle Eastern, and European countries. The differences come from
internal and external factors, including difference in resources and infrastructure,
learning approach, and country specific. Amidst the difference, all of the
institutions face similar problems in teaching Islamic economics effectively,
namely lack of resources, non-standardized curriculum, and less exposure on the
practical aspects of Islamic economics. More attempts must be conducted to deal
with the issues.
1 Author is thankful for the assistance of Sr. Huma Ayub and Br. Mohammed Aliou for some materials in the research.
1
1. Introduction
Islamic economics is more than thirty years old now. Although the roots of
Islamic economics can be traced back to the Prophet’s (pbuh) time, the
development of Islamic economics as a scientific modern discipline is believed to
be started only in 1976 with the First International Conference on Islamic
Economics held in Makkah. Similarly, the development of Islamic banking and
finance, a relatively well established area of Islamic economics, is also started in
the early 1970s as a small rural banking in the villages of Egypt. Today, Islamic
banking and finance has developed into a global industry with size of hundreds of
billion dollars.
The development of Islamic economics, banking and finance leads to the need for
high quality human resources, specifically those who are know about the
conventional practices as well as Islamic practices in banking and finance. This is
where education institutions are considerably important. Although attempts to
establish and reform Islamic education have started with the First World
Conference on Muslim Education held in Makkah in 1977, which was followed
by establishment of ‘Islamic universities’ such as International Islamic University
of Pakistan (1981) and International Islamic University of Malaysia (1983), it was
in early 2000s that the education institutions started offering an increasingly
broader spectrum of Islamic economics study programs and training courses.
Master level programs, particularly MBA and MA/MSc programs in Islamic
banking and finance, are among the most popular programs offered by those
learning institutions (Nienhaus, 2007).
Despite the rapid development of the industry and its supporting education
infrastructure, some scholars criticize the current state of development of such
education institutions. They are of opinion that the institutions mainly focus on
producing students according to the market requirements, instead of placing more
emphasis on the development of original ideas from Islamic perspective. In
contrast, many students of Islamic economics higher education are not satisfied
2
because the existing education institutions give less emphasizes on the practical
aspects of theories they learn in the class.
In view of these, it has become a noticeable thrust to analyze the problems and
challenges faced by the institutions teaching Islamic economics. In particular,
there is a need to identify approaches to implement the Islamic economics
curriculum worldwide and critically evaluate the current practice of Islamic
economic higher educations. This evaluation should gives better perspective in
seeing how far the teaching and its associated curriculum are relevant to the actual
working of economy, while at the same time is in harmony with the aspiration to
transform these into Islamic economies. These efforts are expected to contribute
in developing, modifying, and designing effective implementation of Islamic
economics education in the future.
To address the issues, this paper is organized as follow. Following introduction,
section 2 reviews the development of Islamic economics educations. Section 3
and 4 evaluate current practices of Islamic economics educations worldwide.
Section 3 evaluates the current practices based on exploratory approach, while
section 4 evaluates the implementation of Islamic economics curriculum in
MBA/MA/MSc programs in Asian, Middle Eastern, and European countries by
comparing various types of courses offered by the programs. Brief conclusions
and recommendations are presented in the last section.
2. Islamic Economics Education
2.1. Development and Approaches to Implement Islamic Economics
Education
The introduction of Islamic economics into university curricula started quite late,
in spite of the enthusiasm shown by the Muslims towards the application of the
precepts that contain the principles of Islamic economics. After the Islamic
economics Conference held in Makkah in February 1976, this subject got more
rooms in university curriculum of various Muslim countries all over the world. In
3
general, Islamic scholars suggest that one of the basic aims of all Islamic
economics teaching programs is to train students in traditional economics and
teach them Shari’a/Shari'a related aspects so that they could study and understand
the original sources and answer the questions related to daily life within an
Islamic framework (Azid, 2005). To achieve the goal effectively, appropriate
approaches to teach Islamic economics is considerably important.
According to Thomas and Barnett (in Azid, 2005), two major approaches exist in
the academic institutions for teaching any types of subject. The first approach is
known as the Commodification Approach. The proponents of this approach have
the idea of producing students mainly according to the market requirements. The
second approach is the Originality and Inventing New Paradigm Approach
(known as the New Paradigm Approach) , which raises objection that the
commodification approach endangers academic freedom and minimizes the
university education in society. In contrast to the previous approach, the
proponents of this approach believe that a subject will only develop if we give less
attention to the market dimensions and place more emphasis on the development
of original ideas. Both approaches are prevailing in the current worldwide
education system. The commodification approach, for instance, is commonly used
by business schools nowadays. On the other hand, the originality approach is
usually implemented by disciplines in natural science or schools of thought of
social sciences such as economics school of thought.
In higher education learning institutions, two additional approaches that
emphasize on scope of study can also be observed. The approaches are the Deep
Learning Approach and the Surface Learning Approach. The first approach is of
the view that every topic/course should be based on three layers: presage, process,
and output and, consequently, it should be able to produce a comprehensive
understanding of the discipline. However, this could come at the expense of
longer study duration which, to some extent, does not favorable among students.
This approach has similar emphasizes with the New Paradigm Approach. The
second approach suggests that more topics should be covered within a minimum
time and the student can apply this knowledge in their practical life (Guest and
4
Nerina, 2003) and thus has some similarities with the Commodification Approach.
Both approaches are commonly observed in the real life.
2.2. Critics of Islamic Economics Education
At present, following rapid development of Islamic economics, banking and
finance around the globe as well as the need for more quality human resources in
the field, Islamic economics has developed rapidly and become one of the
prescribed subjects in several institutions and universities in the Muslim and the
western world. The development is, however, subject to some critics. One of the
proponents of Islamic economics education who also criticize the discipline’s
development is Siddiqi (1997). He argues that the present state of teaching
economics at the university level in Muslim countries should focus mainly on two
points: how far it is relevant to the actual working of our economics and how far it
is in harmony with our aspiration to transform these into Islamic economies.
In the practical level, he suggests that it is important to have a judicious selection
of the more enduring elements in the corpus of modern economics and handle
them in a critical manner, rather than abandoning teaching of modern economic
theories and their applications in areas such as development planning, public
finance, monetary policy, and international trade. This should be coupled with the
injection of the Islamic policy ends and preferences in the applied areas and a
reference to the actual economic conditions of our own economies, at relevant
points. Further, his observation shows that although Islamic economics is being
taught in the universities of several Muslim countries, the syllabus of this type of
courses require a thorough revision in the light of recent developments in this
subject. Of greater importance is the need to integrate the teaching of Islamic
economics with the teaching of conventional economics. Nothing short of a fusion
of Islamic elements with the valid and enduring elements of modern economics
will answer the need of Muslim. Nevertheless, the evolution process of new
concepts and the adjustment of the ‘old’ concepts suitable to the needs will require
patience and perseverance, besides commitment to the ideals and imagination.
5
Another important points highlighted by Siddiqi (1997) is the use of Islamic
(economics) methodology in the light of the progress made so far by Islamic
economists. The courses on contemporary Islamic economics are needed to keep
the student fully posted on Islamic thinking and methodologies in all fields. Some
of these contributions will have found their way in these courses. But there is a
need of giving a view of whatever has been achieved till now by an Islamic
critique of modern economics and by addressing Islamic principles to the actual
problem of economics. A synoptic view enables the student to have a grasp on the
unifying principles and the basic conceptual framework of Islamic economics.
The views highlight the importance of transforming the Islamic values into
Islamic economics education, in our context, and the relevance of Islamic
economics educations with the actual working of our economics.
3. Current Practices and Issues in Implementing Effective Islamic Economic
Education
Based on the perspectives discussed earlier, in section 3 and 4 we are going to
evaluate the current practices and issues in implementing effective Islamic
economics educations. Section 3 uses exploratory approach based on literature
study, while section 4 surveys and evaluate curriculum of various Islamic
economics education programs in Asian, Middle Eastern, and European countries.
Observation of Azid (2005) suggests that the syllabi of Islamic economics and
Islamic studies cover almost all important topics of economics module in most of
Pakistani higher education institutions. The method of teaching in both the
disciplines is similar and normally no technicalities are discussed in the
economics courses. The Surface Learning Approach is applied to Islamic
economics modules. The approach is preferable based on assumptions that it is
sufficient to introduce only the basic concepts of Islamic economics, banking and
finance for students to apply and develop these later in their practical lives. The
Commodification approach has not been applied, however, as reflected by
6
minimum efforts in the development of the theoretical aspects. The same model
prevails at all the postgraduate institutes and universities in Pakistan.
Nevertheless, the Commodification approach is used in the micro-level in some
universities. In the faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, Bahauddin
Zakariya University (BZU) Pakistan, for example, an Islamic Finance course
offered is found to covers some basic and practical concepts relating to banking
and finance in the environment of the Islamic system (Higher Education
Commission Islamabad, 2005; Azid, 2005). Implicitly, the development of the
module is based on the idea of commodification. Nevertheless, positive learning
spillovers are still insignificant under this structure primarily because teaching is
more preferable than research and practical works in all post graduate
institutes/universities offering Islamic economics courses. Thus, it can be
concluded that the existing model of teaching of Islamic economics is not
standardized in Pakistan and, consequently, students do not seem to be satisfied
with the teaching as well as the arguments in the favor of Islamic economics.
In the context of Islamic economics teaching, it is also worth highlighting the
experience of Iranian universities in implementing Islamic economics education
after the Iranian revolution in 1978.2 The main objective of the economics
curriculum back then was to have an Islamic worldview and way of thinking
consistent with the fundamentals of Islamic economics (Behdah, 1995). In this
context, Imam Sadiq University (ISU) Iran is a unique experience of
implementing Islamic economics education by following multi disciplinary
program. According to Askari (2005), a very interesting approach used was the
Distant Learning Approach (DLC) in which the ISU center for DLC established
the video conference facilities with IDB partnership.3 In the evaluation aspect, the
2Discussion of Islamic economics, in reality, did not begin in Iran until the revolutionary movement began in 1978. Islamic economics entered the Iranian intellectual arena only in the months before the fall of the Shah. In this context, responsibility for Islamic rejuvenation in the universities was entrusted to the Council for Cultural Revolution. Its mission was to develop an appropriate curriculum and to prepare the textbooks needed to set up an Islamic university system. For more discussion please see Behdad (1995). 3. Under the approach, one week before every lecture the PowerPoint presentation version of the lecture together with its source (related papers) were sent by IRTI for the four centers and later being discussed in the virtual class
7
students are required to write a research paper on the subject along with an exam.
Lecturers for DLC are basically the scholars who had researches on their
respective topic and students are allowed to ask questions in the interval of every
session
This approach is developed based on the idea of the Deep Learning Approach, in
which knowledge gain is facilitated or accelerated with the help of IT.
Furthermore, it provides a new channel by which the problem of lack of
international relationship between the centers who are working on Islamic
economics was partially solved. It is further suggested that this type of learning,
combined with more research in Islamic economics, is a more effective means in
implementing of Islamic economics teachings, strengthening international
cooperation among Islamic economics institutions and constructing a more
positive belief in Islamic economic compared to the traditional teaching method.
Yet, some other problems such as the insufficiency of resources (books, papers,
etc) and insufficiency of applied Islamic economics courses remained unsolved in
the institutions.
Another experience is that of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education (MIHE)
in the United Kingdom. MIHE has followed the Deep Learning Approach4 and
planned to start the distance learning program of Islamic economics. Despite of all
these efforts, Azid (2005) mentions that difficulty still exists in Islamic finance
teaching as students’ expectations are very high to learn the practical dimension of
Islamic banking and finance while the courses offered by the institution are not
enough to satisfy their needs.5 He also observes that issues in the teaching of
Islamic economics are generally the same with the other higher learning
institutions namely lack of comprehensive literature that covers all aspects of
Islamic economics, lack of experts and commitment from the senior faculty
4 More elaboration is discussed in part 4 (the worldwide survey results) as we are also use and analyze the institution as our sample. 5 He further argues that the high expectation is closely related to the variation in student’s background. This is because students are drawn from traditional Shariah, economics and finance background. Hence, while they take the same module, the variation in the background can hinder the depth of teaching.
8
members. In the existing literature, however, more emphasis is given to the
Islamic finance and less on Islamic economics.
Another perspective worth mentioning in the discussion of effective
implementation of Islamic economics education is the experience of International
Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). A study by Haneef (2005) analyzes the
Islamic economics curriculum by categorizing the courses offered by the Bachelor
of Economics program into six categories: conventional economics courses,
comparative courses (conventional courses with some Islamic input), Islamic
economics courses, fiqh courses, usul al-fiqh courses, and other Islamic courses
such as sciences of the Qur’an-hadith and methods of da’wah. Following the
categorization, importance of the courses are calculated as share from total
courses needed to complete the program.
His finding suggests that the university implements what is called as
Comparative/Integrative Approach, marked by the existence of comparative
component that attempt to teach economics courses with some Islamic inputs or in
a comparative manner. However, he also mentions the limitation of this approach
in which some of the courses have only been able to have ‘some Islamic input’
rather than a comparative/integrated approach. The reason was partly due to the
lack of human resource with sufficient ability to handle such courses.
Consequently, the institution decided to come up with a decision of providing
strong conventional economics courses with some Islamic inputs rather than
presenting the courses in a comparative manner. Implicitly, this implies that some
courses, especially courses with strong conventional economics literature like
labor economics or econometrics, use the deep learning approach while other
courses use the surface learning approach with some comparative components in
the course’s content.
Other difficulties faced by the institution are related to insufficiency of Islamic
economics materials. Although attempts have been made at the Kuliyyah of
Economics and Management Sciences (KENMS) to undertake a large-scale
research project to produce review articles in various areas of the discipline, the
lack of expertise of academic staff hurdles its real implementation. Hence, the
9
importance of educational background and qualification of lecturers6 in the field
should be emphasized.
Overall, the literature suggests that different institutions adopted different learning
approaches for various internal and external reasons. Difference in objective
emphasized and approaches taken in teaching Islamic economics in higher
education, coupled with variations in cross-country education and social-political
systems, lead to different practices of Islamic economics education in different
institutions and countries. However, most of them experience the same problems
in teaching Islamic economics to their students. Some of the most notable issues
are the non-standardized curriculum, insufficiency of resources (lecturers/human
resources, textbook, etc) and less exposure on practical aspects of Islamic
economics.
4. Survey of Islamic Economic Higher Education
4.1. Survey Methodology
In addition to the above studies, in this section we survey the current worldwide
implementation of Islamic economics curriculum in the university master level
programs. The samples are the institutions offering MBA and MSc/MA programs
in Islamic Banking and Finance in Asian, European, and Middle Eastern
countries. Information is primarily collected from internet sources and, in some
cases, from interviews with officers/faculty members of the institutions that
managed to be contacted. Courses are classified by modifying Haneef’s
methodology (2005).
In Haneef’s (2005) classification, the courses are divided into six groups namely
conventional economics courses, comparative courses, Islamic economics
courses, fiqh courses, usul al-fiqh courses, and other Islamic courses. We maintain
the first three courses since they exist in most of Islamic economics program.
Considering some similarities of the course content as well as following the
6 According to his research work most of the lecturers found are mainly conventionally-trained economists interested in Islamic economics/banking issues from a primary ‘fiqh’ approach. Hence, there is an urgent need to upgrade qualification of the human resources.
10
presentation of fiqh related courses in the curriculum, we combine the Fiqh and
Usul Fiqh courses into a particular group. Finally, we add one group, namely
thesis writing, which represents the importance of research in Islamic economics
education, as suggested by the New Paradigm Approach.
It is worth to note that some courses may appear as either conventional or
comparative courses, depending on the curriculum content. In some Islamic
universities, conventional courses must include comparative content in the
curriculum while in some other universities distinction is clearly made between
conventional and comparative courses. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, in some
cases curriculum content depends on the lecturers’ ability to ‘insert’ the
comparative component in their class and availability of other resources (Haneef,
2005). Therefore, courses like macroeconomics and microeconomics are
categorized as conventional courses provided that there are no specific Islamic
economics topics mentioned in their syllabus/other related sources. Considering
these variations, some scenarios are possible within a particular Islamic
economics program and this will be explained specifically for the relevant case.
Based on these assumptions, the courses can be classified into six categories
(Table 1). After the categorization, the share of each category is calculated as a
percentage of the degree’s total requirement in order to reflect their importance in
the program.
Table 1
Classification of Courses
No Name of classification Definition Classification code
1 Conventional MBA/MA courses
Courses generally offered by conventional MBA CV
2 Comparative courses Courses that have some Islamic content CP
3 Islamic economics courses
Courses related to Islamic economics IE
4 Fiqh courses Courses related to Fiqh and Usul Fiqh FQ
5 Other Islamic courses Courses related to other Islamic subjects OI
6 Thesis Dissertation or research papers TH Source: Author’s classification
11
4.2. Results and Discussion
After surveying various MBA/MA/MSc degrees in the Islamic economics,
banking and finance, we compare curricula of five higher education institutions
offering Islamic economics master program, namely International Islamic
University of Malaysia, Loughborough University UK, University College
Bahrain, International Islamic University Pakistan, and Dadabhoy University
Pakistan.7 Based on the classifications of the course contents mentioned earlier,
we break down curriculum of each institution8 accordingly and calculate share of
Islamic economics courses hold in the total curriculum of the program offered. By
looking at the share percentage Islamic economics courses have in the total
program, we can attempt to analyze the curriculum in terms of how much
emphasis that institution puts on Islamic economics.
Figure 1
Curriculum Break Down, MBA Islamic Banking and Finance
IIU Malaysia
Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Source: Author’s calculation
7 Initially we observe around 15 institutions offering various Islamic banking and finance master degree program. However, only few of them provide detail information over the internet, which we use as the main source of this study. 8 The curriculum lists and the breakdown results are available from the author by request.
12
Figure 2 shows the share of Islamic economics courses in MBA Program,
Management Centre, International Islamic University of Malaysia. Scenario 1
assumes that conventional courses do not include comparative components in the
courses’ content, while scenario 2 assumes that some of the conventional courses
become comparative courses due to comparative content in their
teaching/syllabus. The results show that conventional courses dominate the
curriculum with the range of 38% – 62% of the total courses offered, followed by
comparative courses (13% - 31%), Islamic economics courses (19%) and Fiqh
courses (6%). These results support the finding of Haneef (2005) that IIU
Malaysia, after struggle to present the courses in a comparative manner, has
decided to come up with a decision of providing strong conventional economics
courses with some Islamic inputs. Our observation also suggests that the reason
was partly due to the lack of human resource with sufficient ability to handle such
courses. In some cases, although human resources might be (physically) available,
they might not able to adjust the course content optimally if they were attached to
too many ‘administrative’ functions such as executive positions in a
department/administrative offices. Therefore, it is obvious that ‘obligations’ to
adjust the curriculum content must be followed by the adequate provision and
management of relevant resources.
Islamic economics courses and fiqh courses make up approximately one quarter of
the total program. For an MBA program, where students come from various
education and work background, this figure could be considered enough for
students to understand the basic of Islamic economics, banking, and finance.
However, investigation should be conducted to get detail and more insight
regarding this issue. Furthermore, the program also offers thesis as an option
equivalent to two elective courses. However, because most students do not take
this option, we use the two electives courses equivalent in our calculation.
Despite the unpopularity of thesis writing option, recently there is a trend that
more and more students are interested in taking this option. Most of them are
interested to write a case study thesis which involves, in many cases, the
institution where the student works. To some extent, this trend implies students
13
attempt to make relevant the courses they take to their work place. Implicitly, this
trend also suggest that students expect the institution to follow the Deep Learning
Approach. This is also a good way to increase students’ understanding of the
Islamic economics concepts as well as to reduce the ‘gap’ between the theoretical
and practical aspects of Islamic economics educations. In the future, the institution
plans to offer their students a case study writing as other alternative to the thesis
writing.
Figure 2
Curriculum Break Down, MA/MBA in Islamic Banking and Finance
Loughborough University UK (2005)9 and University College Bahrain (2007)
Source: Author’s calculation
9 Note that we use the 2005 curriculum for Loughborough University only, because the University did not offer the program anymore today. Some people believe that this unfortunate situation is related to the London Booming case in 2006.
14
Figure 2 compares the Islamic economics curriculum in UK and Bahrain.
Loughborough University in UK is a well-established university offering MSc
program in Islamic economics in 1990s, while UC Bahrain is a relatively new
university offering MBA program in Islamic banking and finance in 2006. Both
institutions offer conventional and Islamic economics courses with different
proportion. While the conventional course makes up around 75% of the total
MBA courses in UC Bahrain, it only makes up 42% of the total courses in
Loughborough University. Interestingly, they offer the same percentage of Islamic
economics courses i.e. 17% for each institution. Furthermore, Loughborough
University includes thesis writing (33%) and comparative courses (8%) whereas
UC Bahrain does not include such courses. Finally, only UC Bahrain offers fiqh
courses (8%) among the two institutions.
Although differences in the curriculum structure may be caused by various
factors, our observation suggests that at least there are two major factors behind
the findings, namely the resource availability and learning approach taken in the
teaching. Well-established universities such as Loughborough University usually
have more and better resources/infrastructure (lecturers, learning materials, etc) as
well as strong university ‘culture’ compared to relatively new universities. As
most of the lecturers are not trained in (proper) Islamic economics education,
strong emphasizes is naturally given to the conventional courses, as clearly
reflected in the above figure. Furthermore,
Related to resource availability is strong university ‘culture’. Loughborough
University, being a part of UK education system that puts emphasize on the
importance of research work, includes thesis (research seminar papers) as part of
its Islamic economic program. UC Bahrain, in contrast, does not offer thesis as the
core module. Instead, given availability of resource and its position as a Muslim
country, it offers Fiqh course.
Second, learning approach may also affects the course structure through
emphasize on particular course type. The inclusion of Islamic economics courses
that closely follow the market issues by UC Bahrain, namely (i) practices and
operations of Islamic banking and (ii) sukuk and Islamic mutual funds: structure,
15
performance, and management, suggests that commodification approach has been
adopted as the main learning method. Similarly, Loughborough University offers
two Islamic economics courses (i.e. Islamic economics and Islamic banking &
finance) which provide students only with basic understanding of Islamic
economics subjects, suggesting that surface learning approach is adopted by the
institution. Nevertheless, the latter tries to bridge the gap between theory and
practices through thesis writing course.
Figure 3
Curriculum Break Down, MA/MBA in Islamic Banking and Finance
IIU Pakistan and Dadabhoy University Pakistan (2007)
Source: Author’s calculation
16
Two Pakistani universities offering MA/MBA degree in Islamic economics
observed in this study are International Islamic University Pakistan and Dadabhoy
University. As shown in Figure 3 above, both universities include conventional
courses, Islamic economics courses, and fiqh courses in their programs. However,
Dadabhoy University adds comparative courses in its offering while IIU Pakistan
does not. The latter seems to put clear distinction between conventional and
Islamic economics courses. In terms of share percentage, conventional courses
make up more than 50% of the total courses and ranks 1st among the group.
Proportion of Islamic economics courses is also relatively the same between the
institutions: 40% and 33% for IIU Pakistan and Dadabhoy University
respectively. Lastly, Fiqh and comparative courses are the courses with smallest
proportion as compared to the other courses.
The relative similarity of curriculum structure between the two universities is
likely due to the fact they are located in the same country. Thus, variations in
cross-country education and social-political systems could be minimized.
Nevertheless, it is also clear that IIU Pakistan stresses the importance of Islamic
economic and fiqh courses more than Dadabhoy University.
Figure 4
Comparison of Curriculum Structure Worldwide (2007)
Source: Author’s calculation
17
Figure 4 compares and summarizes curriculum structures of various Islamic
economics education programs. Overall, the results support findings in the
previous sections suggesting that the difference in curriculum structure is mainly
due to various internal and external factors. The factors include difference in
resources and infrastructure, learning approach, and country specific factors.
Furthermore, the institutions with the low percentage share of Islamic economics
courses seem to follow the surface learning approach as well as commodification
approach in order to keep in beat with what the market demands, while at the
same time offers some Islamic economics courses to attract people and add value
to their programs. Yet, almost all of them face similar problems in teaching
Islamic economics, including the non-standardized curriculum, insufficiency of
resources and less exposure on practical aspects of Islamic economics. While
attempts have been done to deal with the issues, the progress has been relatively
slow.
5. Concluding Remarks
Islamic economic, banking, and finance is a relatively well-established discipline
nowadays. The rapid development of the area as well as the related industry leads
to the need for high quality human resources, specifically those who are know
about the conventional practices as well as Islamic practices in the area. However,
this expectation is yet to be fulfilled by education institutions. Some scholars even
criticize the current development of education institution teaching Islamic
economics. In view of these, there is a need to evaluate the current practice of
Islamic economic teaching and identify the problems and challenges faced by the
institutions. These efforts are expected to contribute in developing, modifying,
and designing effective implementation of Islamic economics education in the
future.
The study observes some interesting findings. First, different education
institutions adopt different approaches in teaching Islamic economics education
18
program. The most common approaches used are the Commodification Approach
and the Surface Learning Method mainly driven by market demand. Second,
difference in curriculum structure is also observable among five universities
offering MBA/MA/MSc programs in Islamic economics, banking, and finance in
Asian, Middle Eastern, and European countries. Roots of the differences come
from internal and external factors, including difference in resources and
infrastructure, learning approach, and country specific. Amidst the difference,
third, all of the institutions face similar problems in teaching Islamic economics
effectively. Major problems include lack of resources (human resources,
textbook/literature, etc), non-standardized curriculum, and less exposure on the
practical aspects of Islamic economics. More attempts must be conducted to deal
with the issues.
Finally, it is noteworthy to point out that this study also has several limitations
and should be interpreted within its assumptions. Improvement can and should be
made in terms of methodology and data. These efforts require, nevertheless, more
data and resources (including time). Perhaps we need to visit those institutions,
interview students and staff, and if possible perform random audits. This would be
the best way to accurately analyze the effectiveness of Islamic economics
education, which can and should be developed by further studies and researches.
19
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