MP madrasas to open for all religions
The Madhya Pradesh Madrasa Board will invite students from other religions to study in madrasas under the open school concept.
The objective is to change the perception among a section of the society regarding madrasas, according to Syed Imaduddin, chairman of the MP Madrasa Board. The Madrasa Board has received nod from the board of directors and released an order in this regard. It has also informed the school education department.
“The board will launch a campaign to persuade parents of school drop-outs to send their children to madrasas and to convince them that madrasas don’t impart only religious education,” Imaduddin said.
Claiming that the initiative was the first in the country, Imaduddin said it will not only bring an end to misgivings about madrasas but will also contribute to communal harmony.
In Madhya Pradesh, there are 2,500 madrasas. In the first phase, every madrasa will be given a target of taking in 10 drop-outs.
According to the order, students of 14 years and above will be admitted after a basic reading and writing test. Special classes will be organised in madrasas for these students and similar to open schools, they will be enrolled for class 8 exam. Later, they will be enrolled under skill development programme.
“The purpose is to improve people’s awareness on madrasas. It will bridge the gap among different sections of the societies,” said Syed Imaduddin.
Madrasa Board officials said though there was no restriction on admission of students from other religions to study in a madrasa students from other religions wouldn’t get enrolled as medium of instruction was Urdu. However, enrolments didn’t go up even after Hindi and English were introduced, due to “trust issues”, the officials said.
Lauding the move, state minister for school education, Deepak Joshi, said it would definitely boost communal harmony. “We are already providing financial assistance to madrasas and will also provide educational aid to make them successful,” said Joshi.
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