Some madarsas also teach maths

Computer literacy, internet and a progressive outlook are fundamentally changing minority education in UP

LUCKNOW: Wasimur Rahman, imam (cleric) of a mosque in eastern UP’s remote Siddharth Nagar district, will have to give up his ‘imamat’. He has cleared the UPSC examination and is on his way to join the country’s elite administrative service. But the good news does not end there. There are hundreds of Rahmans studying in the madarsas of Uttar Pradesh who can now dream of making it to the top echelons of government offices or prestigious corporate houses.

Whether as part of a political and electoral game plan or as a commendable example of minorities’ welfare, madarsas in UP are now on a professional track — a dream even a decade ago. No longer does a madarsa essentially mean groups of skull-capped Muslim children reciting the kalma or the ayats (verses) from the Holy Koran. Education in computers, English, maths and science is changing the scenario in hundreds of madarsas across the state faster than any maulvi would imagine.

“I eagerly wait for the computer class everyday. It’s my favourite subject,” says Naseem (16), a student at the Darul Uloom Farooqiya madarsa on the outskirts of Lucknow. Says Maulana Farooq, who runs the school: “A lot of students from nearby villages have started coming ever since we got the computers.” More interestingly, the enrolment has picked up incredibly, and there are no dropouts.

Darul Uloom Farooqiya is only an example of the nascent metamorphosis of minority education in the state. UP has more than 16,000 madarsas of which only 1,915 are affiliated to the UP Board for Madarsa Education (UPBME). More than seven lakh students are enrolled in these madarsas. They appear for the UPBME examinations to get the degrees of hafiz, aalim, kamil and faazil. Out of the total 1,915 madarsas, 360 government-aided ones have two computers each.

“Minority education is undergoing a sea-change in UP,” says UPBME registrar Dr Shoaib Ahmed. “Now professional and modern education is available even to madarsa students along with their deeni (Islamic) education. But the only major problem is that a large number of clerics running madarsas are still apprehensive of affiliation with the Madarsas Board,” he said.

However, points out minorities welfare minister Anees Ahmad Khan, the transformation continues despite such apprehensions and resource shortages. “Mini ITIs (industrial technology institutes) have been started in as many as 140 madarsas, Tibbiya colleges (of Unani medicine) are to be opened in 30 madarsas and IGNOU centres will also be started in madarsas,” he said.

The state government had sent a Rs7,000-cr proposal to the Union government for a Centre-aided minorities’ welfare package last year. Out of this, Rs146.15 cr is meant for computer literacy alone. “But we haven’t received any response from the Centre,” laments the minister.

Some Maulanas are still apprehensive of the change. “Computers and internet can help arouse the shaitan (devil) in the youth,” says Maulana Irfan, Lucknow’s shahar qazi. “Modern education is welcome if it does not affect the dissemination of deeni taaleem (religious education) which is the primary duty of the madarsas,” he says.

Revered Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad has a more progressive view. “I agree deeni taaleem has its own sanctity. But without professional education and computer literacy, our children will have no future in the world of today.”

It is this progressive view which seems to be gaining ground now. The signs are there for all to see — for the first time, the UPBME has put out its results on the internet. Next year, the results would be available on cell phones.

g_deepak@dnaindia.net