Madrasa Reformation
Nov 28, 2021
Dear Educationists, Parents and Students?
Please allow me to congratulate the Shaheen Academy, its management led by Dr Abdul Qadeer and the staff responsible for organizing the ALL-INDIA EDUCATION SUMMIT 2021, scheduled for?Dec 1?and 2 of 2021. It gives me great pleasure to address this august audience of eminent educationists.
I note that Madrasa Education is the most prominent topic covered at this Summit. I am glad that Shaheen has chosen to highlight this area of study as it is a neglected, underdeveloped, and undernourished topic. With 40,000 plus Madrasas across the country, attended by more than a million students, the success or failure of the Madrasa education has an impact on the lives of the students, their family members and portends consequences for their second-generation. It also affects National Growth.
?The Pandemic has exposed the weakness of the Indian educational system as the whole educational system collapsed (except for a small portion of private players charging high fees and providing online education). Madrasa education was among the weakest in this, and its collapse was total. It is an appropriate time to reflect on the reasons for the failure and not to repeat the same all over again.?
Madrasa Education is one of the unique segments of Education which upholds Ethics and Morals and does not bow down to the societal drive for self-growth, self-enrichment and the worship of Money and Power. Unfortunately, it is also the segment where the students end up in abject poverty, dependence on community charity, loss of self-confidence and out-of-sync with the national perspective and growth.?
Reform of the Madrasa system is a dire need. It needs to be revamped and reconstructed.
The article below highlights how this Reform needs to be engineered.
Thank you
Javeed Mirza, President
New Education Initiative (NEI)
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MADRASA REFORMATION
Javeed Mirza ([email protected])?
The Madrasa Reformation is one of the components of the educational working of the New Education Initiative (NEI). The latter seeks to bring about Transformative changes in the educational system applying Pedagogy (DOP for Discourse Oriented Pedagogy) for instilling critical thinking, applying Technology (MOOC for Massive Openware Online courses) for scaling education so it reaches all corners of the country and can be availed by all of India’s poor youth. NEI also fosters building of value-based education fostering friendship, appreciation, respect in the wide diversity of the Indian population.?
Madrasa Reformation, based on the Vision and Mission of NEI, has the following objectives:?
OBJECTIVES
1) To scale Education and provide the same to millions of Madrasas attending as well as passed-out students.
2) To adopt the National and Global best practices in Education.
3) To provide Standardized education by embedding Quality in the educational process.
4) To adopt modern Pedagogy.
5) To build and adopt IT apps, using Open-source Technology, for assessment and monitoring of educational parameters like Attendance, Performance etc. and also for streamlining administrative work.
6) To inculcate Cultural values that will instill character-building, foster friendship and a respect for diversity.
7) To?Integrate sectoral Education across the country and?bring uniformity in learning across the country.
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SALIENT FEATURES OF THE MADRASA REFORMATION BODY
1)??????Policy Making and Steering Group:?This body will have respected Ulemas and Educationists who support the NEI objectives in its policy making body.?It will also have the support of IT specialists to advise and implement the IT aspects and support of Culture experts to evaluate for bias and to input?Character building Values and Ethics in the program.?It will divide the Madrasa working into 2 parts, the Theology and the Secular and develop policies for both so that every Madrasa student will have full understanding of Secular education along with Religious education.?Each part will be given equal time for learning.?This will establish a strong foundation from an early start and make every Madrasa student capable of mainstreaming whenever he/she chooses to do so and continue higher education (including Vocational education).??
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2)??????Working in sync with the Indian Ministry of Education:?The Indian Ministry of Education has formulated the NEP and RTE acts which are recommended and in most cases mandated for all Educational institutions. The Policy making group will work in sync with the Ministry of Education.?
3)??????Working with Community support:?Community support has been the mainstay of Madrasas. However, the work was based on Zakat funding collected during Ramadaan and Bakrid festivals. This has been a primitive approach and it has always kept the Madrasa on BPL (below Poverty Line) status. This needs to be revitalized so that all Philanthropic foundations are invited to support, and it draws support from govt. institutions (like the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Waqf Board etc.).?Community support must be geared on a higher level, so it becomes sustainable.??
4)??????LEAD EDUCATIONAL CENTERS:?These are initiated by well-established management educational institutions with visionary leadership or educational Trusts/foundations that have capacity and are willing to invest.?These will be the vanguard of education.
Functioning of the Lead center:?It will have 2 sub- divisions:?
On the Religious side, it will be decided by the Religious Scholars keeping in mind modern trends and removing the obsolete syllabus.
On the secular side:
a)??????The Lead center will be guided by the policies enunciated by the Policy making body.
b)?????It will evaluate and avail as much as possible the govt. body, National Council of Education Research and Training, NCERT’s, approved syllabus and curriculum.
c)??????It will work with the Culture Group to screen lessons from bias and for adoption of character building and values-building lessons.?
d)?????It will hire capable Mentor Teachers to enhance the Quality of education and will use Modern Pedagogy in the construction and delivery of the Lessons.?Linking Pedagogy to the national social and economic dynamics will help foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills.?
e)??????It will use the MOOC built by the IT group to stream lessons to Secondary Educational Institutions that sign up to work with the Lead Center.?
f)???????It will help train the Teachers from the Secondary educational institutions and help in the Infrastructure installation and maintenance at the Secondary institutions.?
g)??????It will train Secondary educational Management to understand and use IT tools for efficiency in working and for assessment and Monitoring of its Students Performance and Attendance and keep track of student progress.?
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5)??????IT GROUP:?This?is to be instituted by the Lead center for its IT work.
Functioning of the IT group:??
a)??????It will evaluate existing MOOC technology (example?www.edx.organd?www.swayam.org)?and see how best it can build a MOOC for its own work. Virtual classroom technology must be integrated in the MOOC design, so it allows students to have a Class feel and participate in discussion with each other.?
b)?????It will evaluate existing Open ware IT tools?like?www.khanacademy.com?and Kolibri (www.learningequality.org)?and identify all software material that can be availed. It will do this in conjunction with Mentor teachers.?
c)??????It will work with the Cultural center?and implement its suggestions.?
d)?????It will help build IT infrastructure in the Lead Development center and all the Secondary educational Centers that sign up to work with the Lead center.??
e)??????It will build IT apps that will ensure??efficiency in administrative working and in the assessment and monitoring of Attendance, Performance, and other indicators of good education.
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SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL CENTERS:?These are the Madrasas that are interested in providing quality education and would like to integrate Secular education with Religious education. The Secondary educational centers are the Recipient centers from the Lead centers and are tied to them.?
Establishing of IT and other infrastructure:?Secondary educational centers need to build Infrastructure in their centers to avail the lessons streamed to them from the Lead center. This includes Computer labs and Internet facility.
Hiring of Teachers:?They will need to hire local teachers to maintain discipline in class, provide student counselling and motivation, to check Homework and for the Monitoring of Attendance and Performance of the students. They will also answer students’ questions based on the feedback and materials provided to them by the Mentor teachers from the Lead center. Students will be learning directly from the lessons given by the Mentor Teachers of the Lead center.?
Teacher Training:?The teachers at the secondary center will be initially trained for a period of one month by the Lead Center. Subsequently the local Teachers will have the benefit of seeing the Mentor Teachers teach their students and, in the process, will be trained each day. There will be interaction each day after school between the Mentor Teacher and the local teachers to coordinate the next day's lesson plan.?The local Teachers will be provided with ongoing Lesson plans to prepare themselves ahead of the class.?
English Learning:?English will be the medium of Instruction pursued in the Secular portion of the Study at the Madrasas.?This will build a good foundation for learning of all subjects as English is the most developed language in which subject matter has been written.?
Administrative efficiency:?The Lead center will provide IT apps to ensure efficiency of working of the Secondary educational center and also train its Management staff to use the Apps. These apps will help the Secondary center assess and monitor the students Attendance and Performance on an everyday basis. It will also help them streamline their accounting work and link their accounts to that of the Lead center and to the govt. agencies responsible for scholarships.
WORKING/OPERATION
A)?????POICY MAKING BODY:?Distinguished religious scholars and distinguished progressive educators, Pedagogy experts, IT experts and Culture experts will be its members. Philanthropists and global experts (ex. from UNESCO and UNICEF) will also be invited to join the group. It will have representation from the Secondary Madrasas.
a)??????It will enunciate policies that follow international standards of education and that of the country. It will be an ongoing working body that will update its work on a regular basis and monitor the working of its policies via a Steering committee.?
b)?????It will build support for the Madrasa Reformation and reach out to Secondary institutions (Madrasas) around the country for enlisting
c)??????It will do community outreach and build community support and seek funds from Govt. institutions, Philanthropists and Charitable organizations and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) from corporations.
B)?????LEAD INSTITUTION.??The Policy makers guidelines will be implemented here. This will be the motor that drives the system. On the Secular side, it will?
a)??????Build Curriculum, Syllabus and Lesson planning for all relevant subjects as per Modern Pedagogy and NEP and RTI directions with English as medium of instruction.?
b)???????It will be aided by an IT Team that will build MOOC and IT apps.?
c)??????Mentor teachers hired by the LEAD institution will deliver LESSON PLANS using MOOC technology to Secondary institution students all day on the covered subjects.?
d)??????Lead Institutions will provide Training in Person and also Online Training to the recruited teachers of the Secondary institutions.
e)??????It will have the Infrastructure that allows Teaching of online lessons ALL DAY to the students in all secondary institutions (Madrasas).
f)???????The LEAD INSTITUTION will share the IT apps for Attendance, Monitoring, Performance and Administrative streamlining with the Secondary Educational institution.?
g)??????It will train the administration of Secondary institutions (Madrasas) to use the Apps. This will enable the daily monitoring of the work and ensure efficient administration, enabling direct collection of Govt. sponsored aid and Scholarship, help in Accounting etc.?
h)??????The Lead institution should work towards being a sustainable body by charging a modest fee from Secondary institutions that are benefiting from its work.?
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C)??????SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS (MADRASAS).?The Madrasas that sign up with the Lead center will
a)??????Allocate half time for Secular study and half time for Religious study
b)??????Install Infrastructure (Hardware, Software, and Internet) in their classes. Install classroom facilities like tables, chairs, library, bathrooms etc for conducive learning.?
c)??????They will recruit local teachers who are qualified to teach and can assist the students. The locally recruited teachers will answer the questions of the students, maintain discipline, correct Homework, and provide counselling and monitor attendance and Performance on an everyday basis.
d)??????They will have their Management trained in IT app usage, so it increases their efficiency and productivity.?
e)??????They will mobilize community funding and enlist students?
f)???????Students recruited for the Secular study can be students of ALL religious faith (Non-Muslims). Fees earned from enrolling students will bring Earnings making them sustainable.?
g)??????A portion of the Earnings should be paid to the Lead center for availing its service.?
OUTCOME
1)?SCALE:?Massive education using MOOC technology will provide Standard learning to hundreds of Madrasas in the vicinity and even distant places.
2)QUALITY:?Quality education will be taught at all stages as the main lessons are provided by the Mentor Teachers from the Lead institution. Secondary school teacher’s capacity is enhanced each day as they work with Mentor teachers.
3)?PEDAGOGY:?All Mentor teachers are imbued with Modern Pedagogy. Global advancement in Pedagogy and global pedagogy experts will ensure that New Pedagogy replaces the existing obsolete pedagogy.???
4)UNIFORMITY:??Disparate learning in schools run by an individual/ family will give way to uniformed learning as many secondary institutions will work under the canopy of the Lead institution. All secondary educational institutions will follow uniform Syllabus, Curriculum and Materials and will be taught by the same Mentor Teacher.?
5)?CULTURE/VALUES:?This is where the Syllabus, Curriculum and Lessons are screened for bias and negativity and in its place character building and values upholding lessons are incorporated.
6)?EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY:?Incorporation of IT apps for assessment and Monitoring of all educational parameters like Attendance, Performance etc. will improve student performance. Apps to streamline working of the Secondary educational institutes Accounting, and availing of govt. scholarships etc., will also improve working efficiency.?
7)?GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY:?Global connectivity can be established by linking schools and students to peers around the world and sharing experience with them. This will build better global comprehension and understanding.??
CONCLUSION
The Madrasa Reformation is a new approach that will take time to digest and practice. However, its superiority in design and construct will win the day and carry over those who understand best modern practices in Education. Existing Madrasa education has lost its validity and has become a remnant of a bygone era. It is fast losing credibility and is poised for regeneration. The pandemic has totally devastated Madrasas as well as small and medium educational institutions. It is time for a new and visionary construct.
Our work will bring about consolidation of the Madrasas with small local Madrasas coming together and offering one place for learning instead of many in the same area. Not too many of the existing Madarsas will be able to pool and marshal resources to survive.?Only those Educational institutions that offer a comprehensive answer to today’s needs, along with Religious education, will survive. Visionary leaders need to embrace the New Education Initiative as a comprehensive and extremely value adding formula for educational advancement. Its development of Madarsa Reformation likewise offers great potential. It combines Religious study with Secular study and avails advanced Pedagogic and IT Tools for critical thinking and rapid spread of quality education. It builds foundational learning and permits Mainstreaming at all stages.?
The next stage would be to integrate Skills training, Entrepreneurial training and Soft skills training that will allow students to earn a decent living. A similar model can be constructed for this within the NEI paradigm.??