A central team of experts from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) recently paid a visit to West Bengal to participate in a 3-day orientation programme on Science and Mathematics in the light of the National Curriculum Framework – 2005. Many madrasa teachers of the state took part in the orientation programme. The team of experts was impressed by the madrasa education system and the Department of Madrasa Education of the state. The team lauded the madrasas affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Madrasa Education (WBBME) for their focus in science and technology, saying the system of madrasa education in West Bengal could be an “eye opener” for the rest of the country where common perception about the Islamic seminaries is stereotypical.
The head of Mathematics and Science Department at the NCERT, Prof Hukum Singh remarked, “There is no difference between madrasas in the state and the schools here. This is an eye-opener for us. We will like to convey this to other parts of the country…we are organising an orientation programme for the first time with madrasas of any state in the country.”
HIGH MADRASAS AND SENIOR MADRASAS
There are around 575 madrasas affiliated to the WBBME with more than 4 lakh students. There are technically two types of madrasas affiliated to the WBBME: High Madrasas and Senior Madrasas. In the High Madrasas, besides the Arabic and Islamic Studies, the syllabus of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) is also offered. The level is treated at par with Madhyamik, ICSE and CBSE boards. Senior Madrasas is wholly devoted to orthodox Islamic studies, and offer courses of Alim (Class X), Fazil (Class XII), Kamil (2-year graduation) and Mumtazul Muhaddethin (Master’s degree). At present, there are about 102 Senior Madrasas in the state. It is said that the system was adopted in 1915.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education is looked after personally by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, while a Minister of State assists him. The teaching and non-teaching staff members of madrasas get pay-scale equivalent to those of the regular schools. Most of the High Madrasas are co-educational. In fact, in many of the madrasas girls outnumber boys.
HINDU STUDENTS IN MADRASAS
One of the most interesting aspects of the madrasa education in West Bengal is the high enrolment of Hindu students in the High Madrasas. As per the official figures, around 15% Hindus, mostly from SCs, STs and OBC categories, and about 65% female students are enrolled in the High Madrasas. Some of the High Madrasas have more Hindu students than the Muslim students. For instance, 618 out of the total 1,077 students of Kasba MM High Madrasa in Uttar Dinajpur district are Hindus; 290 out of the 480 students of Ekmukha Safiabad High Madrasa in Cooch Behar district are Hindus; 554 out of 868 students of Orgram Chatuspalli High Madrasa in Burdwan district are Hindus; and 290 out of the 480 students of Chandrakona Islamia High Madrasa in West Midnapore district are Hindus.
The reasons for it are not hard to find. The High Madrasas have non-Muslim staff, including teachers. Around 11 per cent of the teachers in the High Madrasas are non-Muslims. The tuition fees of the High Madrasas are much lower than the general schools. The two theology papers – Arabic language and Islamic Studies – of 100 marks each that are offered in the High Madrasas as optional papers are not tough for non-Muslim students. Students have to choose any one of the papers. In the Class X board examinations in 2003 a Hindu girl student of a High Madrasa got the highest mark in Islamic Studies.
The teaching and infrastructural facilities of the madrasas are also as good as those of the general schools. The madrasas also offer vocational courses. As per an official report, 42 madrasas have computer laboratories, while more than 100 madrasas offer vocational training in various trades like tailoring, embroidery, and even mobile application technology.
The madrasas also organise health and other programmes regularly for the benefit of the local communities. According to official claims, Bengal’s madrasas are the only ones in the country to carry out polio eradication and immunisation programmes in collaboration with the UNICEF, and adolescent reproductive and sexual health programmes with the UNFPA.
All these aspects make the High Madrasas attractive to the non-Muslims, especially the extremely poor and mostly first-generation learners. Dr Abdus Sattar, Minister of State for Madrasa Education, summing up the reason the popularity of the madrasas among Hindus, says, “The syllabus is the same as in regular schools, the certificates we issue are recognised and considered secondary school and high school equivalents all over the country. We also enjoy some advantages over regular schools. We charge minimal tuition fees while providing the same or even better quality of education than schools. Our student-teacher ratio – 42:1 – would be the envy of even most upscale private schools.”
An official claims that nearly 85 per cent of those who take the Alim exams from senior madrasas switch to the regular stream, while the rest go for higher theological studies and take the Fazil, Kamil and Mumtazul Muhaddathin.
BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR MADRASAS
The West Bengal Government has also hiked the budgetary allocation for the fiscal year 2009-10 for the Ministry of Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education from Rs 110 crore in the last fiscal year to Rs 524.11 crore this year. The move is seen by political observers as an attempt to win back the minority votes. Left party had poor performance in Muslim concentrated constituencies during the last Panchayat and Lok Sabha elections.
The total allocation of Rs 524.11 crore, according to the State Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta, would be mainly spent for upgrading 110 Junior High Madrasas and 89 High Madrasas to Higher Madrasas, and also for the development of Aliah University, set up in 2008.
ALIAH UNIVERSITY
Aliah University, erstwhile Calcutta Madrasa (also known as Madrasah-i-Aliah), was upgraded to a university by an Act passed by the West Bengal Legislature (West Bengal Act XXVII of 2007). The historic Calcutta Madrasa was established in 1780 by the first Governor General of India, Warren Hastings, who called it Mohammedan College of Calcutta. The early history of Calcutta Madrasa as given in the official website www.aliah.ac.in of the Aliah University is as follows:
Calcutta Madrasa was established chiefly for the study of the Arabic and Persian languages and Muslim Law so that the sons of the Muslim gentry can perform the duties as officers for running the revenue administration and judiciary. The Naib Nizam was instructed to recruit Madrasa graduates to fill the vacancies in the criminal courts, of course on production of certificates of efficiency. However, within a decade Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Theology, Natural Philosophy, Law, Logic, Rhetoric, Grammar, and Oratory were added on the list of prescribed subjects for study. In 1821, the Annual Examination of the Madrasa was held in the presence of many respectable officials and gentlemen of Calcutta. This was the first public examination held in British India.
A medical class, headed by Dr Breton, Professor of Medicine, was started at this Madrasa in 1826 for the first time in British India. Dr Breton was authorised to purchase a skeleton and collect medical books. An anatomical work published by John Taylor was arranged to be translated into Arabic. The medical class continued here till the establishment of Calcutta Medical College in 1836. However, the students of the Madrasa were allowed to study medicine at Calcutta Medical College. This speaks for the high standard of education at the Madrasa in those days…The authorities tried to introduce English as a subject for study in 1826. However, not many students were found willing to learn English as Persian was still the medium of administration in India. But in 1837 the colonial government replaced Persian with English as the official language. So the Anglo-Arabic Department was opened at the Madrasa in 1839 for the teaching of English. However, at the recommendation of a Committee again, in 1854 this Anglo-Arabic Department was abolished and an English school, in the name of Anglo-Persian Department, was started under the direct control of the Principal of Calcutta Madrasa. The great reformist Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-1893), a product of Calcutta Madrasa, played an important role in the establishment of this Department so that Muslim children could receive the much-needed English education…
Aliah University, at present, has around 170 students. And it is being temporarily run from a rented location in Salt Lake City. The university has a Faculty of Theology having 2 departments – Department of Islamic Theology and Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law. The University introduces the following academic programmes for the session of 2009-10:
5-year integrated M.Sc. in Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computing, Statistics and Informatics, Economics, and Geography;
5-year integrated M.A. in Arabic and English ;
4-year B.Tech./Dual-Degree M.Tech. (Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Civil Engineering).
However, more than 700 madrasas in the state are not affiliated to the WBBME. Most of these madrasas are against “modernisation” of madrasas.