In absence of the required recognition, a dark future seems lying ahead of the students who cleared the Munshi, Maulvi, Aalim, Kalim and Fazil examinations of the Uttarakhand Madarsa Shiksha Parishad. There are over 20000 Muslim students in different parts of the State who have passed different examinations of the Madarsa Parishad over the past six years. A proposal to give equivalency of the Munshi, Maulvi and Aalim examination of Madarsa Parishad to High School and Intermediate examinations of Uttarakhand board, Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) was passed by the Ramnagar- based Uttarakhand Vidhyalayi Shiksha Parishad ( UVSP) in the year 2005 and subsequently sent to the State Government. The proposal has been gathering dust amidst the piles of files kept in the state secretariat since then.
If the State Government gives its clearance to the proposal of Uttarakhand board the Munshi ( Persian) and Maulvi ( Arabic) certificate holders of Madarsa Parishad would have been considered equivalent to the High School examination while the Aalim certificate holders would have become equivalent to the certificate holders of the intermediate examination.
The member of Madarsa Parishad, Dr Iqbal accepted that in the absence of equivalency, the students passing the examination of the Madarsa Parishad face problems to get jobs. It is learnt that theses students are categorized as illiterates in passport applications.
The social welfare and minorities’ affairs Minister, Yashpal Arya said that the State Government is aware of the issue.
He added that very good progress has taken place in the matter of according equivalency. The Minister further said that the State Government is committed to the welfare of the minorities but cautioned that the issue of equivalency should not be politicised.