There was a time when everybody seemed to be “concerned” about the state of Madrasa education and the graduates it was giving to the country. An impression had been created that Madrasas were the main centres of Muslim education in India. Our critics held our fascination with Madrasas as being responsible for our backwardness. The non-BJP governments rushed to modernize Madrasas ignoring the Sangh Parivar’s allegation of minority appeasement. Many Muslim intellectuals became “Milli” leaders overnight for championing the cause of Madrasa education.
But today only lip service is being paid to Madrasa education. To be true, it has yet not disappeared for the public memory and the government, too, has made allocation in the budget for modernizing Madrasas. But the enthusiasm at the level of a part of Muslim leadership is missing. Ever since the revelation made in the Sachar Committee Report that just about 4% of Muslim students population studies in Madrasas, the kind of Muslim leadership alluded to above has gone into hibernation. They have not offered any explanation for their inactivity.
Given the size of Muslim population in India, even 4% of its student community is a big number and must continue to be important attracting the attention of the government as well as the Muslim leadership. There is no reason to ignore Madrasas at this juncture.
It is not our case here to judge the merit of various ideas and schemes for Madrasas. We just want to emphasize the point that Madrasas are the only source of education for a good number of people. There is no denying the fact that there are Muslims who can afford modern/formal education for their children and yet they send them to Madrasas out of conviction. But the large population consists of those who are poor; some indeed living below the poverty line. A few years ago this writer had carried out a survey in select districts of U.P for Unicef, Lucknow which proved beyond doubt that the parents of an overwhelming majority of students studying in Maktabs belonged to the disadvantaged groups. This fact alone should be compelling both for the government as well as the Muslim leadership to continue with their attention and focus on Madrasa education.
Human genius has never been tied up with riches. That only the children of rich parents or students of good public schools will excel is a wrong notion. We do accept the fact that good education is a key to success. But sometimes good education is acquired in adverse circumstances as well, in Madrasas for example and not necessarily in famous public schools. As a result we see many Madrasa graduates excelling in various fields of life. For over two decades Madrasa graduates have been getting admission in some modern universities like AMU, Aligarh, Jamia Millia Islamia and Hamdard University in Delhi. Recently, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi has also recognized the degrees of some Madrasas for admission to some of its courses. Many more universities need to follow the examples set by the above-mentioned institutions of higher learning because this would open a window of opportunity for otherwise disadvantaged students. This gesture would also bring them in mainstream educational institutions and enable them to join the national mainstream.
Madrasa graduates normally get admission in courses of Unani medicine, arts and social sciences. Some directly get admission in Masters Courses of Arabic language, Islamic Studies and Theology. These students are fortunate in that they have found an opportunity to study in modern universities. But one can easily realize looking at the programmes of study they are pursuing in universities that even their modern degrees will have little market value. We concede that knowledge in itself is valuable. But we also insist that it should be “enabling” as well. That it should enable students to find a place in today’s market to earn their livelihood.
Madrasa students face many problems in universities which are of emotional, psychological and intellectual nature. All these cannot be addressed here, but one of them is indeed pressing and deserves our immediate attention.
Many Madrasa students, as mentioned above, get admission to M.A in Islamic Studies and Arabic language etc. Apparently, it might be pleasing for them that they are going to get their Masters so soon. In reality, however, they close many opportunities on them. The problem is that the one and the same Fazeelah degree is recognized as equivalent to B.A in one university and to +2 in others. As a result the Madrasa graduates with M.A without B.A have just one option of pursuing Ph.D programme which is not available in large numbers.
A Madrasa student pursuing a B.A programme, on the contrary, has many opportunities of higher education. On the basis of good performance in subsidiary subjects at B.A level, he can seek admission in all M.A programmes of Social Sciences and humanities. Also he can opt for such professional courses as B.Ed, BTC, B.Libb, and some programmes in journalism, computer application and mass communication etc. The need, therefore, is to strengthen graduate programmes of Arabic and Islamic studies with a view to helping Madrasa students for better prospects.
[July, 2009]
