Teaching Arabic was created through the BOR Resolutions series of 1980. This was also created to answer Letter of Instruction 71-A. This LOI was signed into Law by the former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos on April 28, 1973. The LOI 71-A was reinforced by LOI 1221 which was signed into law by Pres. Marcos also on March 31, 1982. These two letters of instruction (LOIs) allowed the use of Arabic as a medium of instruction in areas where Muslims are dominant and allowed the gradual integration of the Madrasah into the Philippine educational system.
BS Teaching Arabic was authored by an Egyptian missionary named Ustadh Ahmad Hassoubah, a professor at Al Azhar University. Ustadh Hassoubah authored the curriculum of the BSTA as an answer to MSU being an arm of the government in integrating Muslims into the national body politic through education. The main aim of the course is to train Arabic teachers who can provide quality education to public, private, and madrasah institutions all over the country.
The department introduced one and only graduate in 1984, Prof. Fatima M. Aragasi, who is now one of the teaching staff and the department’s current chairperson. The existence of this department has already more than 300 graduates who are landing good positions in local and foreign agencies. Many of them are licensed professional teachers and now teaching in both private and public schools.
