Adab teachers of Islamic religious education in Singapore: Analysis of the guidance book of the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS)

Among the problems faced by Singaporean Muslim educators is the issue of asatizah etiquette. Given their position as teachers, asatizahs become role models for madrasa students and the local Muslim community. For this reason, Islamic religious leaders in Singapore see the need for an accreditation or certification institution for educators or commonly referred to as asatizah in Singapore. The purpose of this article is to see what and how the accreditation institution for asatizahs called the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), as well as analyzing the manners of asatizahs in Singapore which are the provisions in the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS). This research method uses a qualitative method with a literature research approach. The author obtains data from official documents related to the asatizah certification policy in Singapore issued by the Singapore Islamic Religious Council (MUIS) and the Asatizah Recognition Board (ARB). The results of this study found that the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) program is a kind of teacher certification intended for all who teach Islamic science in Singapore. The program aims to improve the competence of Islamic religious education teachers so that they can become a credible source of reference for Singapore's Islamic community. The competence is given only to religious teachers who are worthy and suitable for preaching and teaching religion in Singapore. The teacher's manners are things that must be obeyed by teachers who take part in the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) program, called the code of ethics. With this code of ethics, it is hoped that asatizahs will further improve their professionalism so that they can increase the trust of the Islamic community in Singapore towards asatizahs. Abstrak Di antara masalah yang dihadapi oleh para pendidik muslim Singapura adalah masalah adab atau etika asatizah. Mengingat posisinya sebagai guru, asatizah menjadi role mode bagi para siswa madrasah dan masyarakat muslim setempat. Untuk itu, para pemuka agama Islam di Singapura memandang perlu adanya lembaga akreditasi atau sertifikasi bagi pendidik atau biasa disebut dengan asatizah di Singapura. Tujuan artikel ini adalah untuk melihat apa dan bagaimana lembaga akreditasi untuk para asatizah yang dinamakan Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), juga menganalisis adab para asatizah di Singapura yang menjadi ketentuan dalam Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS). Metode penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan penelitian kepustakaan. Penulis mendapatkan data-data dari dokumen-dokumen resmi yang berkaitan dengan kebijakan sertifikasi asatizah di Singapura yang diterbitkan oleh Majelis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) dan Asatizah Recognition Board (ARB). Hasil penelitian ini mendapati bahwa program Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) menjadi semacam sertifikasi guru yang diperuntukan untuk semua yang mengajar keilmuan Islam di Singapura. Program ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kompetensi guru pendidikan agama Islam agar bisa menjadi sumber rujukan yang kredibel bagi masyarakat Islam Singapura. Kompetensi tersebut diberikan hanya kepada guru-guru agama yang layak dan sesuai untuk berdakwah dan mengajar agama di Singapura Adapun adab guru menjadi hal yang harus dipatuhi oleh para guru yang mengikuti program Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), dinamakan sebagai kode etik. Dengan adanya kode etik tersebut, diharapkan para asatizah semakin meningkatkan profesionalismenya sehingga bisa meningkatkan kepercayaan masyarakat Islam di Singapura terhadap para asatizah

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Effectiveness of a Malaysian Workplace Intervention Study on Physical Activity Levels

Physical activity levels are low in Malaysia and this study was undertaken to determine if a four week work-based intervention program would be effective in changing physical activity levels. The study was conducted in a Malaysian Government Department and had three stages: baseline data collection, four-week intervention and two-month post intervention data collection. During the intervention and two-month post intervention phases, physical activity levels (determined by a pedometer) and basic health profiles (BMI, abdominal obesity, blood pressure) were measured. Staff (58 males, 47 females) with an average age of 33 years completed baseline data collection. Pedometer steps averaged 7,102 steps/day at baseline, although male step counts were significantly higher than females (7,861 vs. 6114). Health profiles were poor: over 50% were overweight/obese (males 66%, females 40%); hypertension (males 23%, females 6%); excess waist circumference (males 52%, females 17%). While 86 staff participated in the intervention, only 49 regularly reported their steps. There was a significant increase (17%) in average daily steps from 8,965 (week 1) to 10,436 (week 4). Unfortunately, participation in the intervention program was avoided by the less healthy staff. Two months after the intervention there was no significant difference in average steps/day, despite the fact that 89% of staff reporting they planned to make long-term changes to their lifestyle. An unexpected average increase of 2kg in body weight occurred in participants, although this was less than the 5.6kg in non-participants. A number of recommendations are made for future interventions, including the conclusion that pedometers were a useful tool and popular with participants

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially