‘Need to modernise madrasas, closing them is no solution’
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday that the closure of madrasas was not a solution and instead called for imparting modern education not just in the Islamic institutions but also in Sanskrit schools.
Adityanath was speaking at a meeting between the Union government and the minority welfare ministers of several states in the presence of Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. “We can think about modernisation of madrasas. Closing them down is not a solution but timely improvements should be considered. I also ask Sanskrit schools that besides imparting traditional education they should give computer, English, Science and Mathematics education to face competition,” he said.
Adityanath’s comments come days after state Shia Waqf board chief Waseem Rizvi called for madrasas to be shut down, calling the institutions a breeding ground for terrorists. The comments triggered a controversy and some Muslim organisations have even issued a fatwa against him.
India’s largest state has around 16,000 madrasas that offer courses in Islamic theology and religious laws. Around 560 of them are government-aided and 4,500 are partially funded by the state. The government gives around ~4 lakh to ~5 lakh to every aided madrasa.
The state government has brought in a series of regulations to modernise madrasas. It launched the website of the UP madrasa board last August for the online registration of all such Islamic institutions, a move aimed at checking irregularities, increasing transparency and improving the quality of education.
The madrasa board has also started work to introduce books by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in Islamic seminaries to standardise and improve the curriculum in sync with job requirements. “We are not able to utilise energy of those who are misguided in ‘Rashtra Nirman’ (nation building). Quality education is the solution. Our government is committed to development without any discrimination,” Adityanath said.
“The main agenda of the programme is development with dignity and empowerment of minorities without appeasement. Various developmental measures initiated by different state governments for education and socio-economic development will come up for discussion,” Naqvi, who is holding the brainstorming meeting with the states and Union territories, said. Naqvi said education would also be a focus area of the discussion, especially that of Muslim girls.
LUCKNOW: