Madrasas Get a Bad Rap
The Indian State of West Bengal has decided to introduce English as a medium of education in all the state run Madrasas. Muslims account for 28% of the population in West Bengal. This decision was announced by the state minister for Minority Affairs Abdus Sattar. There are about 576 government run Madrasas in the state. Madrasas in the state already teach science and mathematics to all its students. Abdus Sattar (himself a former Madrasa teacher) said “Our Madrasas don’t produce the Taliban, they will produce engineers and doctors”. Why is this news? This started me thinking about why there is so much focus on Madrasas.
For those in the West the world Madrasa means radical Islamic educational system. The word came in to prominence after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The images that are shown on television portray these Madrasas very negatively. They always show young children wearing white clothes repeating verses from the Koran and at the same time moving their upper body in rhythm with all other students in the class. But is this a valid description of an average Madrasa in the world?
The word Madrasa has Arabic origins. It simply means a school below the university level (the school does not have to have religious studies in its curriculum). The Madrasas are part of the great tradition in the East of educating people (most of whom are very poor) by offering inexpensive (in most cases free) education. The princely states or kingdoms helped these institutions out by providing subsidies, paying their teachers or allocating land for building the school. This type of system has been going on for thousands of years and is still very active today.
Indians are familiar with Gurukuls. The Gurukul was the center of learning. The students lived with the Guru (teacher) and gained knowledge and wisdom. These Gurukuls existed from the days of the Vedas. Most of the Gurukuls in the ancient world were strictly for the kids from the wealthy families. But there are many Gurukuls in India today that are free and take in students from all walks of life. The first major Madrasa was set up in India by Alauddin Khilji in the year 1316. Today there are thousands of Madrasas in India. The Madrasas themselves are very diverse just like the rest of the education system is in India. There are Sunni Madrasas and Shia Madrasas. There are Waqf (Muslim board that is funded by the Government of India) Madrasas and there are independent Madrasas (the largest is the Deobandi Madrasas). The Christian empires (Portuguese, British, Dutch and French) that started invading India in the 14th to 15th century followed the footsteps of the Muslim empires before them and started setting up their own Madrasas (known as Convents). They offered a boarder Western style education to poor and lower caste people.
It would be naive to believe that religious agenda is not part of the Madrasas, Convents or Gurukuls. These educational institutions were after all operating under the mercy of the state and played an active part when it comes to implementing state policies with respect to religion and education. Most Indians (including me) at one time or the other spent a few years in a Christian school or college. In addition to providing us with good education at a reasonable cost these schools are also very interested in teaching the Bible (irrespective of whether we are Christians or not) and in somehow influencing our future religious beliefs. In the United States all public schools practice separation of Church and State because that is government policy. Madrasas are no exception.
Of course there is a very high tech version of the Madrasas that have cropped up all over the world in the past ten years. They are the Christian television ministries that aim to educate, heal, and help the poor and the needy all over the world. They try to do this by getting donations from the state (in this case like minded Christians all over the world). Most of these Madrasas originate in America (Florida, Southern California and Texas) and England. You do not have to move an inch from your couch to gain knowledge and education. All you have to do is turn on your television.
Related posts:
- Foreign University in India is not the Solution
- About a Synagogue in Mecca & Mosque in New York
- United States & India Want Computers in Schools
- Dreams of my Father
- Cheap Computer For Illiterate Indians
Category: Culture & Religion