By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre that it will proceed with the proposal about the Central Madrasa Board only after building a consensus among all stake-holders.
“Subject to building consensus among all stake-holders, there is a proposal to set up a Central Madrasa Board. The proposal is that the Central Madrasa Board could affiliate volunteering Madarsas and could be given a mandate to provide assistance to conduct examinations, award qualifications, design curriculum and syllabi as well as develop infrastructure in order to introduce uniformity in standards of the non-theological aspects of Madrasa education,” the Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari, disclosed this in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
“While there is no Central institutional arrangement at present to monitor quality of education in non-theological subjects in Madrasas, State Madrasa Boards exist in the State of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh established by State legislatures, which monitor the functioning of Madrasas under their respective jurisdiction,” she further said.
Several Muslim organizations, and only yesterday the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, have rejected the proposal, apprehending that this would allow the government to interfere in the curriculum and management of the madrasas, which they feel will curtail the rights given to minorities in the Constitution regarding establishment of educational institutions of their choice.