By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
New Delhi: The Government of India will not provide Madrasas with any fund for Islamic subjects like Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. The government is believed to have taken a decision to the effect. The Madrasas, however, will be provided with financial assistance only for teaching subjects like mathematics and science. The decision is seen as part of the government plan to modernize Madrasas. The Union Ministry for Human Resource Development (HRD) will integrate Madrasas in the country with national schools and very soon mathematics, social science, Hindi, English and other subjects will be introduced there.
A senior official in the HRD ministry said, “We want to introduce mathematics and science in Madrasas and Maktabs as part of the process of modernization.” He told that usually Arabic, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence, Hadith, logic and Islamic history are taught in religious Madrasas but the ministry has decided that no funds will be provided for these Islamic subjects. Meanwhile, responding to demands for modern education, various Madrasas have offered to teach science and world history along with certain foreign languages besides English and a course in modern Arabic literature.
For years, private Madrasas have been demanding the government to accredit their degrees at par with degrees conferred by public Madrasas. In this connection, HRD ministry had a dialogue with Urdu teachers and Madrasas’ management. The ministry informed them that for accrediting their degrees at par with degrees conferred by public Madrasas, it is necessary to impart instructions in additional subjects also as per current rules.