State Madrasas to go English Medium

Santanu Saraswati

santanu_saraswati@hotmail.com

Kolkata: Bengal Madrasa put one step ahead towards western education system.

In an unprecedented move the state Madrasa education department has decided to start English-medium Madrasa schools in Bengal from the next education year. In the first phase, the department will be opening 12 such schools in 11 minority Muslim-dominated districts like Malda, South 24 Pargana, and Murshidabad and one in Kolkata, state minority welfare and Madrasa education departments minister, Abdus Sattar, told Hindustan Times, on Thursday.

“The state Madrasa Board of Education has sent a proposal of opening English medium Madrasa schools in the state. The board, in its proposals, said it would either turn few existing Madrasas into English medium, or open new schools in 11 minority Muslim dominated districts and one in Kolkata. These schools will provide even the children of the poor minority Muslims the scope of getting education in English-medium,” Sattar said.

The state Madrasa board, according to the minister, has a very simple justification of introducing this radical system of education for the first time in the country. Bengal is the only state in the world where not only the minority Muslims, but also the poor Hindu children get admission. An English-medium Madrasa will help these sections of the community to get best education, but at the cost of the government—an education system, which only the rich can afford getting in privately-run schools in the state.

There is another reason for introduction of this radical system of education put forward by the board. Since the state primary education department has decided to introduce both Bengali and English medium system of education from next education year, if the state Madrasa Board of Education continues to follow only one single medium-system, minority students will be left out behind. Getting admission in good state government colleges and continue study would prove difficult for them. “Studying in English medium schools will provide them the scope for better and continuing higher education,” the minister added.

What will be the system of educating in these new schools? If the minister is to be believed, apart from studying Arabic as compulsory subject, just as students study Bengali as the first or second language in other state-board controlled schools, the students in these new English medium Madrasa schools will study all the subjects in English, including Islamic Studies. “Since we wish to start this new education system from the next education year, till the new schools are ready, the students will have this facility in some of the existing schools in two shifts,” Sattar said.

And what more is that, just like any other state Madrasa Urdu-medium schools, the students in the English-medium Madrasa schools will be having free school dress, mid-day meals, free hostel facilities for children who will come from distant villages, free education materials, and free education for poor. Even the teachers will get salaries and other facilities at par with any state-government schoolteachers.

Recently, according to the minister, the Brookings Doha Centre—the policy making body of all Islamic countries in the world with its headquarter in Washington DC had advised countries like Pakistan and few other terrorism affected states to follow the reforms and policies of West Bengal Madrasa education department and state Madrasa Board of Education to bring reduce terrorist activities in their respective state in its report—page 6 and 7. “This is another achievement for the Seventh Left Front Government,” Sattar asserted.
EOM