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Education · report
Published free: the link opens the whole book.
A baseline study of the traditional madrasah system in the ARMM and nearby regions, funded by the Australian Government. It gathers data meant to guide public policy on traditional madaris and on the education system of the new BARMM.
The Institute for Autonomy and Governance in Cotabato City carried out this study, with Australian Government funding. It looks at traditional madaris: private Islamic schools that operate outside the Philippine school system. The team took a census of 1,850 traditional madaris, surveyed 169 of them, held 6 focus groups and interviewed 21 people from government, universities, civil society and the security sector.
It counts at least 1,534 traditional madaris in the ARMM and 316 in nearby regions. Most teach at the kindergarten and primary levels, and only 2% offer college. The study finds that the schools live on donations and volunteer work, and have no access to public funds because they are not accredited. About 90% of madrasah leaders want government recognition. Graduates have few jobs open to them. Leaders are worried by the growing view that madaris are used for recruitment by extremist groups.
The chapters trace the history of madrasah education, the state of the schools, their problems and proposals for the future, including a vision for education in the Bangsamoro. An annex lists the madaris surveyed.
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1985Out of print
The Contemporary Muslim Movement in the PhilippinesCesar Adib Majul
Majul’s short account of the Moro struggle of the 1970s and the rise of the Moro National Liberation Front, written for readers abroad.

1905Free to read
Studies in Moro History, Law, and ReligionNajeeb M. Saleeby
The first English account of Maguindanao’s genealogies and of the law codes and Islam of Maguindanao and Sulu, translated by an American colonial official who read the originals. Out of copyright and free to read.
1979Out of print
Muslim Filipinos: Heritage and HorizonPeter G. Gowing
A general introduction to the Muslim peoples of the Philippines, their history, faith and institutions and their place in the republic, written for Filipino readers from the Dansalan Research Center in Marawi.
1988Out of print
Understanding Islam and Muslims in the Philippinesed. Peter G. Gowing
Essays on Islam as it is lived in the Philippines, collected and edited by Peter Gowing.
2012Out of print
The Qur’an and Islamic Manuscripts of Mindanaoeds. Midori Kawashima and Tirmizy E. Abdullah
A study of handwritten Qur’ans, prayer books and kitabs kept by families in Lanao, with what they show of how Islam was learned and copied in the region.
2002Self-published
History of the Moro and Indigenous Peoples in MinSuPalaBen J. Kadil
A Moro teacher’s history of the peoples of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, written as a textbook and printed by the author.
2013Out of print
Transition to the Bangsamoroed. Benedicto R. Bacani
A 326-page collection published a year after the 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, on the move from the ARMM to a new Bangsamoro political entity. Edited by IAG founder Benedicto Bacani, with contributions including Peter Koeppinger, Crisanto Cayon and Kathleen Geslani.

2017Free to read
Research on Youth Vulnerability to Violent Extremism in the Autonomous Region in Muslim MindanaoInstitute for Autonomy and Governance
A survey-based study, done with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, of how vulnerable young people in the ARMM are to violent extremism. It aims to give government agencies and communities an early picture to shape their response.

2020Free to read
Looking Back, Moving ForwardStarjoan Villanueva
A study of how civil society organisations take part in politics and governance in the new BARMM during the transition period. It takes stock of what civil society has gained, the obstacles it faces in dealing with leaders and institutions, and where it can do more.

2021Free to read
Balik-Islam in the PhilippinesInstitute for Autonomy and Governance
A study, done with the UP Institute of Islamic Studies, of Filipinos who convert or 'revert' to Islam, building a profile of converts and their reasons for conversion. It also gathers Muslim and non-Muslim opinions on Islam and looks at converts' links to violent extremist groups.

2022Free to read
Youth Vulnerability to Violent ExtremismInstitute for Autonomy and Governance
A follow-up to IAG's 2017 study that tracks how urban Bangsamoro youth's views and attitudes toward violent extremism have changed. It adds the views of young people living in conflict-affected rural areas of the BARMM.

2023Free to read
Empowering Madaris in the BARMM through Public Policy and Regional Autonomy to Help Prevent and Counter Violent ExtremismInstitute for Autonomy and Governance
A study of how vulnerable or resilient the madrasah system is to violent extremism, and where it is heading in the Philippines. It weighs how public policy and the BARMM's regional autonomy can support madrasah development.