Madrassa education in India aims at educating Muslim children living in this country. Madrassas were originally established to spread the message of Islam and impart religious teaching on its followers. The Ulamas, a group of religious specialists used to perform the role of teachers in Madrassa to spread Islam outside the Arabian Peninsula. A Madrassa was as treated as a high school or college earlier. In the Islamic era, there were thousands of Madrassas which were as big as some universities today. They were full with exhibit museums, libraries and visiting scholar programs.
Great scholars and professors dedicated their lives in the Madrassas for learning the philosophy of Islam, the Farsi language, and more significantly, to broaden knowledge among ordinary public.
Institutes such as Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Milia Islamia and Jamia Hamdard grant equality of qualifications from Madrassas. Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia have a correspondence commission that evaluates the degrees of students from Madrassas. The Madrassas apply to the committee regarding their courses and the committee recommends the levels of formal education systems comparing to the Madrassa education. The government thinks that the equality system may help conquer the educational backwardness of Muslims. The equality system would help them to offer better job chances.
Most of the Madrassa students face the lack of knowledge of science and mathematics. The only option for the Madrassa students is to learn subjects like Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Islamic studies along with Yunani medicine. Some Madrassas teach subjects such as information technology and journalism.
The aim of the government is to bring all Madrassas under the roof of the Central Madrassa Board to increase the quality of education provided.
However the need of the hour is to impart education that are relevant and help the Muslim children in building up capabilities so that they can compete on an equal footing with other students of the country
Monarchs as well as masses were educated in the Madrassas in the yesteryears. And even today Madrassa education in India has played a vital role in educating thousands of Muslim children. The importance of Madrassas lies in its potential to make education available to the poorer section of the society.
The central as well as the state government of India provide various facilities to make easy the Madrassa education in India. To help Muslim students get higher education, the Central government is trying to permit Madrassa students to join conventional courses in various colleges and universities. |
