Govt’s agenda to make madrasa edu better: Min
THE ASSOCIATION HAS WRITTEN TO THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF THE MINORITY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, DEMANDING WITHDRAWAL OF THE BOARD’S PROPOSALS.
LUCKNOW : Amid allegation that an attempt is being made to destroy the basic form of education in madarsas in Uttar Pradesh, minister of state for minority welfare Danish Ansari said on Sunday the government’s agenda was not to change the form of education but to make it better.
The Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Board has decided that Urdu, Arabic, Persian and ‘Diniyat’ (religious teaching) would be taught as one subject instead of separate texts, a move criticised by a teachers’ association.
Asked about apprehensions that the basic form of madarsa education was being changed, Ansari said, “The government is not going to take any such step. We are moving in the direction of making madarsa education better for students.” “The things that are good will be implemented. Whatever good input madarsa board gets, it is put forward. Some things are still in the stage of deliberation, so they should not be considered final. Whatever final decision will be taken, it will be for the benefit of the common people,” he said.
There would be no disruption in the old system and the attempt is to include more good practices, he said.
The Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Shiksha Parishad, in its meeting on March 24, had decided that in the secondary ( Munshi/ Maulvi) classes, only one subject would be made including Arabic and Persian literatures as well as ‘Diniyat’.
Question papers for the rest of the subjects -- Hindi, English, mathematics, science and social science – would be separate.
The Teachers Association Madarise Arabiya Uttar Pradesh said the decision was against the provisions of the Education Code and the Madarsa Board Act of 2004. The basic form of madarsa education would be destroyed if the decision was implemented, it said.
The association has written to the principal secretary of the minority welfare department, demanding withdrawal of the board’s proposals.
The minister said the government was moving ahead with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s thought that Muslims should have “Quran in one hand and laptop in the other.”