The nature of madrasa education varies from state to state, with some making it the equivalent of mainstream education and some such as Gujarat and Maharashtra without a board to register its madrasas. Education being on the concurrent list, madrasas are in the domain of the state governments, officials in the HRD Ministry say.

Maharashtra: All private

Madrasas function as private institutions, either affiliated to Charity Commission or State Wakf Board, or independent. Most focus on religious teachings. Of the 1,889 madrasas with 1.5 lakh students, 550 do teach maths, science and English and qualify for grants under a scheme started by the previous government. The new government’s latest declaration about madrasas not being schools unless they teach formal subjects such as English, maths and science comes ahead of a survey to count how many children are out of the formal education system.

Gujarat: No board

None of 150-odd major madrasas providing religious education are registered with the state government. “Among the two types of madrasas, those that provide religious education and those offering primary education, the former type does not require permission. Government permission is required and given only to madrasas that offer primary education,” said education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.

Mufti Ahmed Devlavi, president of Board for Protection of Madrasas in Gujarat, said no madrasa is registered. Devalvi’s madrasa also runs an independent school up to class 12; this is affiliated with the HS board. He said the government a couple of years ago proposed a board but those running madrasas did not accept. Madrasas run mostly on charity. Devlavi said almost all madrasas teach English and maths, though not necessarily based on the state or central syllabus. Some also have arrangements for students who wish to take board exams privately.

Kerala: Parallel education

Madrasas in themselves impart only religious education, timing their classes so as not to coincide with regular schools. Simultaneously, a few madrasas have started running unaided schools under either CBSE or the state board, with classes after madrasa hours. Some have computer labs, funded under a central modernisation programme.

The state’s 12,000 madrasas are run by various groups, with 10,000 under Samastha Kerala Sunni Vidhyabhaysa Board. These have one lakh teachers paid by various masjid committees; they also benefit from charity. The board decides academic matters and conducts annual exams for students of classes 5, 7, 10 and 12.

Bihar: Multiple courses

Over 3,700 madrasas are affiliated to Bihar State Madrasa Board that gives matriculation and +2 certificates, equivalent to those of the state board and CBSE. Teachers are paid as much as those at state government schools. The board also used to givegraduation degrees until three years ago, when Ni
tish Kumar government granted this provision to Maula Mazharul Haque University. Apart from Urdu and Persian, madrasas teach English, maths and Hindi. Lack of facilities restricts science subjects, teachers say; few madrasas have labs. The board had 1,320 affiliated madrasas until 2010, when a 1990 ban on new madrasas was lifted, bringing in 2,459 more since.

Uttar Pradesh:

Multiple levels The state madrasa board recognises 7,000 madrasas. These include 1,500 Tahtania madrasas (classes 1 to 5). Fauqania madrasas for sixth to eighth number 3,000. Aalia madrasas (up to tenth) and Uchh Aalia (intermediate to PG) number 2,500. The government recognises Aalia students as HS after the student clears munshi and maulvi exams. In Uchh Aalia, intermediate status is granted if a student clears the aalim exam. The BA and MA degrees are not recognised but those clearing the 12th equivalent can go mainstream, though many prefer not to. Maths, English and science are taught. Also, 466 madrasas get grants-in-aid with salary paid by the government at par with their counterparts in similar institutions. Many other, unregistered madrasas focus on religious teachings.

Madhya Pradesh:

Up to 8th, with maths Madhya Pradesh’s madrasa board holds exams up to the eighth standard. These teach English, maths and science alongside religious subjects. After eighth, students have to take private tuition if they want to study further. For them, exams of classes 10 and 12 are conducted by Madhya Pradesh State Open School. Former chairman of the madrasa board Rashid Khan says about 80 per cent students drop out after seventh. Incidentally, the state Sanskrit board holds exams till 12th. Out of 7,000-odd madrasas in MP, about 1,500 get grants. Khan says the state government does not give any grant of its own but disburses the central grant.

West Bengal:

Board equivalent Mamata Banerjee’s budget allocated Rs 500 crore for madrasa and Muslim education and she has set up an Aliah University for Muslim higher education. West Bengal has three types of madrasas. In its 500 high madrasas, the government appoints teachers, gives grants and sets the syllabus, at par with HS schools, with Arabic replacing Sanskrit or Hindi. High madrasa finals are equivalent to class 10 under the secondary board, enabling students to join college. The 200 senior madrasas, affiliated to the state Madrasa Board, deal with Islamic studies with some doses of modern education. Khariji madrasas are run by private individuals or organisations. They frame their own syllabus and appoint their own teachers. Abdul Aziz of Milli Ittehad Parishad, an umbrella body of Muslim organisations, said there are about 500 unrecognised madrasas with about 1 lakh students. An NIA terror probe recently concluded that some khariji madrasas in the border districts were being used for terror training.

Assam:

Boards again The state madrasa board lists 707 madrasas — 524 pre-senior madrasas equivalent to middle school up to class 8, 164 senior madrasas (ninth to 12th) and 14 title madrasas with courses equivalent to MA in Arabic. The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995, has provincialised the services of employees of senior madrasas, title madrasas and Arabic colleges. The state secondary board recognises 188 high madrasa schools for a high madrasa examination, equivalent to class 10 with the same subjects but with Arabic compulsory. Students can do HS and, if science, can go on to engineering or medicine. A few high madrasa schools have started 11th and 12th, with Arabic added to the mainstream course. Assam has some 100 private madrasas called khariji and hafiziya madrasas. These are purely religious institutions.

OTHER STATES

There are close to 6,000 madrasas in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad has 1,200 madrasas which are affiliated to Deeni Madarsa Board, the Nizamia, or other institutes not affiliated to state boards. Some 160 madrasas are affiliated to the state board through Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan. Jammu and Kashmir has more than 700 madrasas. Most of these are affiliated to the Deoband and Nadva institutes. Students of an estimated 20 per cent of the madrasas can appear in exams under the J&K Board of School Education. – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/schools-within-madrasas-in-kerala-no-board-for-madrasas-in-gujarat/3/#sthash.GG8sHR9X.dpuf