Govt Revamping Madrasas to Gain Control, Use Issue During Elections, Says IUML Leader

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national general secretary and MP PK Kunhalikutty on Monday said the government’s “motive” behind revamping madrasa education in the country was to gain control.

“It is very clear. More than revamping, they want some sort of control. Otherwise, there should have been other methods. For instance, in Kerala, the timings are such that children can go to school after madrasa,” Kunhalikutty said.

The MP was reacting to the human resource development (HRD) ministry’s plan to revamp madrasa education under the Scheme to Provide Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM). According to the plan, the institutions would have to get affiliated to either madrasa boards or state boards to be eligible for central government funds.

The government is also planning to map madrasas in the country based on their Global Positioning System.

Unhappy with the proposed move, the MP said, “The focus is on control, some sort of interference. The motive is very clear… everything should be under their control. That is what they want.”

He added, “Before doing anything, they should discuss with the stakeholders. In all minority affairs, what we see is not a good intention. It is their political motive and [they] want to make use of it during elections. They want to make everything a communal issue.”

Commenting on the use of GPS, he said, “These are all indications. Many communities are giving theological education, why do they want to identify madrasas alone? All this shows their ulterior motive. This is what we feel; otherwise, they should have convinced us.

“They are not prepared to discuss with stakeholders. That is not right. Instead of interfering with madrasa education, they could plan to follow the Kerala model,” he said, adding that just getting affiliated to a board would not help them.

The existing features of the scheme enable madrasas to strengthen capacities for teaching formal curriculum subjects such as Science, Mathematics, Language and Social Studies through enhanced payment of teacher honorarium.

The past modifications on teaching materials have encouraged linkage of madrasas with National Institute for Open Schooling (NIOS) as accredited centres for providing formal education, which will enable children studying in such madrasas to get certification for Classes 5, 8, 10 and 12.