Govt mulling revamps to improve madrasas

New Delhi: In a bid to clear the negativeness against the madrasas in India, the Narendra Modi government initiated a move to introduce another language in the Islamic education institutions.

The government announced a tie-up with four madrassas in Bihar to provide skill training to over 1200 Muslim students. In Bengaluru, a group of 11 Muslim organizations has come together under the banner of ISLAMIC EDUCATION BOARD of India to generate a positive feeling about the institutions.

The board has decided to introduce a syllabus based on science along with the regular languages to ensure that the students studying here are no less than the others studying in normal schools. A move is underway to rename these madrassas to Islamic Schools.

It might be mentioned that a fraction of government believes that these madrassas are "breeding grounds" for radicalization. However, some opined that introduction of subjects like computer education and mathematics would provide fruitful results.

A madrasa is not a school for teaching, these are places where the students learn the Quran since their childhood and go on to study only Islam. There are around 40,000 madrassas spread across the country, out of which some are state funded and other are funded independently.

In recent years, according to the surveys conducted, it revealed that the students studying in madrasas are more prone to be a part of the riot or enroll in a terrorist group.

Right from a young age, the mental set up of these children are channelised to read only Islamic books. At such an environment they are bound to be radicalized and inclined towards a certain mindset.

Provision for admission of non-Muslim students in madrasas would also help in improving the situation and would help in bringing the institutions at par with other regular schools.(Inputs from agencies)