In Uttar Pradesh, madrasa students will now be required to recite the national anthem before class begins as a mandatory activity, according to a decision by the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education. A similar decision was made in 2017 when the board made recital of the national anthem and hoisting of the national flag mandatory on Independence Day.
At its meeting headed by chairperson Iftikhar Ahmad Javed on Thursday, the board made several decisions about examinations, attendance and recruitment of teachers. Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) based Madrassa Teachers Eligibility Test (MTET) should be introduced as a pre-qualification for becoming a madrassa teacher. According to the board chairperson, ‘Bai-Bhateejavad is becoming the order of the day in teacher recruitment. This is why the board has decided to make MTET mandatory, but the selection process will be decided by the management. A formal proposal will be sent to the government soon,’ he said.
‘The national anthem is sung in various schools and we want to instill patriotism in madrasa students too so that they know our history and culture apart from religious studies. It is already recited in some madrasas. We have made it mandatory for the coming academic session,’ he added.
Moreover, the board will conduct a survey to determine how many children of madrasa teachers attend private schools. In addition, the Aadhar card will also be used to verify student attendance. ‘The teacher-student ratio in several madrasas is skewed and we plan to rotate teachers for better results. We also want to find out where children of our teachers study to boost numbers as it is said that our teachers motivate others to send their children to madrasas, but they send their own wards to private convent schools,’ Javed added.
From next academic session, the Aadhar card will be linked to student registration for verification and attendance purposes, while biometric attendance will be implemented for teachers. Madrasa board examinations will be held from May 14 to May 27, he said, adding that subjects like Hindi, English, Maths, Social Sciences and Science will be required from the next academic year for students up to senior secondary level. With the addition of these subjects, six examination papers will become mandatory. These subjects have been optional until now, and they have been taught from NCERT books. ‘We want our students to participate in the mainstream,’ Javed said.
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