Rethinking Islamic School Education

Growing up as an Islamic school student, I was always defensive about criticisms of the Islamic school model brought up by community members. "It's simple and obvious: Our Islamic schools are the pathway for Muslim children to become good Muslim adults," I thought. As an adult, I now realize that I was wrong. To preface, I am not saying any of the following: 1) Islamic schools are never good 2) Islamic schools can't produce good Muslims 3) Public schools are better than Islamic schools 4) All those who work at Islamic schools are unintelligent or unqualified 5) Everything is bleak and there is no hope for the future