Nai Manzil to take madrasa passouts to new heights

| | New Delhi
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Nai Manzil to take madrasa passouts to new heights

Monday, 05 January 2015 | Jaya Shroff Bhalla | New Delhi

Nai Manzil to take madrasa passouts to new heights

Coming to the rescue of thousands of Muslim students, who pass out of madrasas every year but fail to find admission to universities due to lack of standardised school education certificate, the Centre is all set to launch to a new scheme to help them bridge the gap. The Ministry of Minority Affairs will soon launch a new scheme — Nai Manzil — to help the deeni madrasa passouts, in writing the central board examinations. Muslim clergies and academicians have welcomed the move.

According to Government estimates, there are at least three lakh madrasas across the country. With an average of 100 students passing out of each madrasa every year, there are at least three crore new passouts.

In the first phase, the Government is planning to offer the scheme to 5,000 students and then expand it after the annual budgetary announcements in March 2015. Maulana Azad Education Foundation, non-profit organisation formed to support educationally backward minorities, will bear the project cost.

“We are going to offer a bridge course to help the students tide over the academic and skill development gaps. This one-year course will prepare them to write the annual board exams, which are recognised by universities in the country,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

“While deeni madrasa passouts are equipped with the Islamic theology, they lack academic knowledge. We will give them a one-year intensive course to equip them to appear for board exams,” he said.

The Ministry has also worked out an option of skill training for those unwilling to undertake the academic training.“We will provide them the basic vocational training required for skill-based jobs like driving, security guards, nursing assistants, tailoring, carpentry to name some,” said the official.

“Only a handful of students trained in madrasas get absorbed as Maulvis and Faazils, the rest are rendered with a few options as mainstream universities do not have any options for them,” he said.

The idea behind the new scheme is to help the students assimilate with their mainstream counterparts.“While there are some States like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat, which have their State Madrasa Board, but for students passing out from the majority of States, so far there is little option,” said the official.

“We are also in talks with Jamia, Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and Indira Gandhi National Open University to integrate these students under the minority quota,” he said.

Welcoming the proposal, vice president All India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPlB) Maulana Dr Kalbe Sadiq said any such scheme presented by the Government which connects Muslims specially youths with mainstream should be welcomed.

“The standard of teaching in madarsas is not as per standards. I have been working for modern education in Muslims to uplift their educational status. Along with religious education people should also focus on learning modern education too,” he added.

Aligarh Muslim University Professor and president Sir Syed Awareness Forum Shakil Samdani also praised the move if it brought the students into mainstream education.

“It had come to knowledge that Ministry of minority affairs is coordinating with AMU and Jamia Millia on its modalities and implementation. It should yield better results for madarsa students,” he said. Notably, last year Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) introduced bridge course for madarsa students.

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