'Broad' Consensus On Modernising Madarsas: HRD Ministry

New Delhi, Dec 1 (UNI) Bringing modern education to madarsas and forming a central madarsa board are among ideas experts will take up at a conference Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh will open in New Delhi on Sunday, officials said today.

''A broad consensus on the necessity to introduce modern education in madarsa education system has arisen,'' a government statement said.

The all India Conference is expected to draw among others the Chairmen and the Vice Chairmen of State Minority Commissions and Madarsa Boards, it said.

The officials said nationwide consultations involving Muslim religious and academic leaders have been held under the auspices of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

The exercise helped ascertain the views of the community and ''raise informed awareness on the matter so as to forge informed wider consent,'' the statement said.

It said the national consultation this week has been organised in light of ''concerns expressed and consensus evolved.'' Officials said the participants will discuss equipping madarsa students with knowledge and power in areas of science and technology for their social and economic betterment.

On the basis of the decisions arrived at the Conference, a Report would be prepared and submitted to the government, they said.

The National Policy on Education 1986 emphasised ending disparities and giving equal educational opportunities to those educationally backward and attending to their specific needs.

Educating backward minorities has been a goal pursued through various schemes, including area-intensive programmes, modernisation of madarsa education and appointment of Urdu teachers and part time Arabic or Persian teachers.

For centuries, madarsas and maktabs have played an important role in preserving Arabic and Persian languages and ''the cultural heritage of the country enriched by synergic Islamic traditions,'' the statement said.

A high power Minorities panel set up by the government in 1980 observed that ''religious institutions like Maktabs and Madarsas can play a useful role in imparting general and elementary technical education to their students.'' The statement noted that the educational backwardness of the Muslim community has become a matter of unprecedented national concern, calling for significant remedial initiatives.

''Modernising and upgrading madarsa education, besides prioritising Muslim-majority areas for educational development, is arguably the most critical task in this regard,'' it said.

The statement said it was high time stake-holders, including religious leaders, threw their weight behind the idea of modern education in madarsas.

''Modern Education does not mean introducing western standards,'' it pointed out.

The idea is to introduce teaching of subjects like mathematics, science, computer education and also vocational education along with theological studies, without diluting the religious teaching which is central to the madarsas.

Introducing new subjects will empower the Muslim youth to compete with the children from the conventional education system and benefit from the prospect of higher education and employment.

It stressed the voluntary nature of the process of introducing modern education in traditional Madarsas and Maktabs.

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