Hyderabad: Imparting modern education to madrassa students is nothing new. The concept is now being sought to be implemented in a different way to make it more effective and popular. The Shaheen Group of Schools along with the Sahitiya Trust, Safa Baitul Maal and other organisations, have decided to educate 5000 ‘huffaz’ (Quran memorisers) in the modern subjects right at their madrassa. Billed as the ‘Madrassa Plus’ programme, it will be implemented in a mission mode method to ensure that the madrassa students are in a position to appear for the tenth class examination in just 18 months flat.
Beginning May 2, Madrassa Plus will be introduced for 100 students in 50 selected seminaries across the country. Through a bridge course, the students will be taught the basics of mathematics, science and English in the first three months. Thereafter they will be imparted government schools syllabus so that they could write the tenth exam in 18 months through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
Giving details of the programme, Dr. M.A. Qadeer (Shaheen Schools), Syed Aneesuddin (Sahatiya Trust), Prof. Amirullah Khan (Economist), Maulana Ghyas Rashadi (Safa Baitul Maal) told press persons here on Monday that 50 madrassa, mostly in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Assam, have been chosen for execution of the programme. Huffaz in the age group of 14 to 18 years will be coached in the modern subjects. In the coming years more madrassas would be brought under the ambit of Madrassa Plus, said Dr. Qadeer who has successfully tried the Hafiz Plus programme for the Shaheen group of schools.
For the madrassa students the whole thing will be free of cost. Food, accommodation and examination fee will be taken care of with the help of NGOs. The idea is to improve the economic status of madrassa students, who mostly remain unemployed or underemployed. “This project was actually visualised by eminent scholar, Maulana Abul Hasan Nadvi,” Maulana Rashadi said and denied that it would deprive madrassas and mosques of religious scholars.
Presently the madrassa system of education is under threat in parts of the country. The Madrassa Plus project is intended to protect the seminaries and also provide the students there best of education on all fronts of life, Prof. Amirullah Khan said.
