Madrasa students
By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: The Assam government has converted at least 1281 Madrasas (Islamic educational institutes) across 31 districts to general schools, where the students will now study all traditional subjects recognised at the national level.
From now onwards these Madrasas will be known as Middle English (ME) schools, which will follow the academic curriculum prescribed by the concerned government agencies.
However, even after changing the names the institutes will comprise the same batches of teachers and students. Moreover, Assam will continue to support private Madrasas, which were earlier affiliated with the State Madrasa Education Board. The private institutes, normally run with the help of public donations, impart only Islamic teaching. The small Madrasas have been merged with the nearby large Madrasas so that educational reforms can be achieved. The privately run Madrasas too will have to follow revised courses along with skill development.
The State Directorate of Elementary Education with an order stated that those regulated educational institutes hereafter will not pursue religious (Arabic) subjects, rather the students will be exposed to English, general science, social studies, mathematics, computer applications, etc.
Most of these institutes are located in the districts of South Shalmara-Mankachar, Nagaon, Marigaon, Dhubri, Barpeta, Karimganj, Cachar, Hojai, Hailakandi, Goalpara and Nalbari. Similarly, Bajali, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, and Sonitpur districts also support some government-run Madrasas.
It may be mentioned that the State government passed legislation in the Assembly in January 2021 to convert all government-aided Madrasas to general schools. State Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma argued that Muslim students need to study general subjects so that they can also develop themselves as doctors, engineers and other professionals. Sarma opined that the public money should not be used for religious studies. With the same logic, the government converted all Sanskrit Toals to general academic institutes.
The State higher education authorities have now converted the concerned Madrasas into high and higher secondary schools. The Bhartiya Janata Party-led government in Dispur initiated to closing down of all government-supported Madrasas and subsequently transformed those into general schools by enacting laws to erase two Madrasa-related acts (passed in 1995 and 2018).
*Senior journalist
