In a first-of-its-kind pilot project that attempts to mainstream madrassa-educated children, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Friday between the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU), Mumbai-based Valuable Edutainment Pvt. Ltd. and seven madrassas, including two in Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, to start virtual classrooms where English, Mathematics and Sciences will be taught.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at Taleem-e-Tarbiyat, an education conference held at the Bombay Stock Exchange convention hall. The conference, was organised by Zafaf Sareshwala, Chancellor, MAANU and a prominent Modi supporter. According to the MoU, virtual classrooms will be held in the afternoon in the madrassas to Class VIII, IX, and X students. "Valuable Group, which already runs virtual classrooms in 575 city schools, will broadcast these classes," Mr. Sareshwala told The Hindu . The pilot project will address approximately 5,000 students.
Mr. Sareshwala said the issue of madrassa modernisation is like the proverbial chicken-and-the-egg story. He added, "Muslim children enter madrassas at the age of five, and emerge at 18 or 20 years without a modern school or college education. They learn Quran, Hadees and possess a level of intelligence quotient, but there is no equivalent in our education system. They haven't completed their SSC or HSC exams, so no university can enrol them. The question is, where and how do they start?"
He referred a successful attempt in 2013 at modernising madrassa education in Gujarat, when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister. Thirteen madrassa students, he said, were allowed to take the state secondary board examination, and all passed. He added that these students went on to clear their higher secondary board exams. "Four of them studied engineering, two pharmacy while three completed their BSC. So, for the first time, we had a madrassa-educated youth who was a maulana and an engineer," Mr. Sareshwala said.
While he said he was unaware if funds would come from the Centre's budgetary allocation of Rs. 100 crore for madrassa modernisation, Mr. Sareshwala said some corporates have offered CSR funds for this initiative.
Mr. Jaitley, who was on a two-day visit to Mumbai, said, "Barring occasional skirmishes, often magnified by the media, there are no major incidents in our country. Our society continues to speak in one voice."
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