To give educational reforms a big thrust, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has on Monday announced to introduce National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books in approximately 19,000 Madarasas across the state.
“Madarasa board is planning to implement NCERT syllabus in Madarsas,” Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said in a tweet.
As per the tweet, the Madarasas will now include Mathematics and Science as compulsory subjects at higher level.
The state government said the NCERT books will bring the syllabus at these schools on the same level as those in different state educational systems. It will not affect the madrasas’ religious curriculum.
“We are in the process of standardising and integrating the syllabus, especially for subjects like science, mathematics and English,” Registrar of the UP Madrasa Shiksha Parishad Rahul Gupta was quoted as saying by a news agency.
According to Gupta, more than 19,000 madrasas in the state will now follow the NCERT books from Classes 1 to 12.
“All books, except Hindi and English texts, will be in Urdu. Even Mathematics and Science subjects will be taught in Urdu. It is proposed to make Mathematics and Science compulsory at the Aaliya level,” Gupta said.
Earlier in January, the Yogi Adityanath government had made NCERT books mandatory for all schools affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) from academic session 2018-19.
As per media updates, the state government had in August launched a portal of the UP Madrassa Board and had asked all Islamic institutions to upload information about their managing committees, teachers and students on it.
According to reports, when the Adityanath government came to power in the state, it rolled out its agenda to modernise madrasas. It made provisions in its 2017-’18 Budget towards imparting modern education in recognised madrasas.
Madrasas are educational institutions that offer courses in Islamic theology and religious law and impart lessons in the Quran and the Hadith. Students from madrasas usually opt for callings such as maulvis and muftis. Currently, there are 16,461 recognised and 560 aided madrasas operating in the state.