In tandem with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the development of Muslim youths to hold Quran in one hand and computer in the other, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kashipur launched an innovative two-week Madarsa Teacher Training Programme on Monday.
With this IIM Kashipur embarked on a journey to connect Madarsas across India with mainstream educational administration, management and pedagogy for the betterment of children studying in the Islamic seminaries.
Inaugurating the programme, IIM Kashipur director professor Kulbhushan Balooni said, “This programme is just a new beginning to introduce modern educational approaches in the Madarsa system so we can learn from each other and help them to deliver educational services in more professional way in these institutions.”
The programme at IIM Kashipur will be conducted by IIM professors and external resource persons from across India. It has three major goals – standardisation of the pedagogy, managerial and leadership skills and interfaith dialogue.
It is aimed to incorporate within the existing Madarsa system the latest principles of general education, value systems of mainstream education in a multi-faith nation like India. Maulana Azad Education Foundation, which comes under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, is sponsoring the programme with an aim to instil a sense of modernity among madrasa teachers.
Delivering the introductory address professor Sajid Jamal from Faculty of Education, Aligarh Muslim University highlighted the importance of Madrasa education system in India and stressed that the Madarsas have played a vital role in spreading basic education among the downtrodden segments of the Muslim society.
Professor Baharul Islam, Dean (Academics) at IIM Kashipur and the programme director welcomed the participants and expressed gratitude towards the Government to have given the institute an opportunity to materialise the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The programme will be attended by around 50 participants from north and central India in the first phase.
It will be followed by a second phase of training at IIM Kashipur wherein the trainees will come back with the improvised plans and programmes for the development of their respective Madarsas and seek help in project management from the institute.