Assalaam alai kum
Honorable Ms. Katherine Dhanani, Mr. Raheemuddin Ansari, Mr. Qutubuddin, Mr. Ratan, Mr. Hafiz Nazeeruddin, Ms. Juliet Wurr, Mr. Syed Badruddin, Dr. Rafiq and my colleagues on the dais and other distinguished guests and friends in the audience..
I am glad to announce the launch of the Madrasa Education Initiative. We assemble here today to initiate a new phase in the growth of the students attending the Madrasas. The Madrasa students come predominantly from the economically weaker sections of our society. Their Right to decent education is missing in our existing society. In such adverse circumstances, the Madrasa Institutions have taken up the noble task of caring and meeting the educational and material needs of the needy and poor students. They deserve gratitude and respect. The students graduating from existing Madrasas are seen to possess some remarkable properties that are missing in the general student. They have a high power of concentration (a Hafiz does the amazing job of memorizing 900 pages of the Koran), excellent discipline, good morals and are willing to live and work on sparse resources. From the perspective of the HR Manager in the corporate world the qualities mentioned here get high marks, but unfortunately you don’t see any of them work at the Multinational Corporation. The reasons are simple. The students do not possess the technical skills that the corporation needs. They are not equipped with the language and the tools. The Mass Education Initiative will attempt to bridge the gap by providing the Learning of English at an early stage and helping the student broad base their learning and prepare them for the standardized exams as well as equip them with Vocational skills that are marketable and will help them in landing a job. Today the Madrasa Institutions understand the need to do this transition for the majority of its students and I am glad that many are willing to work with the MEI in this regard. However, the task is huge and the resources are meager.
It is important that we accept the Right of every child to have decent Education as well as be ensured of a decent minimum living standard while they are young and growing. This is what every conscientious parent is obliged to do and will strive to do. The USA, where I have lived and taught for more than a dozen years, recognizes this Right and provides Free Education, Free Transportation and Food for all children up to High School (completion of Junior College). The Quality of the Teaching staff is ensured by insisting that all Govt. Teachers have a Masters in their subject of Teaching. In India, the Quality of Education at the Govt. school is poor, especially in the rural sector. The typical rural parent sending their child to the Madrasa sees an advantage in the Madrasa over the Govt. school, because the Madrasa also provides Free Boarding and lodging while the Govt. school provides low quality education. The Madrasa’s in AP are not beneficiaries of any Govt. largesse. The Govt. has shown scant interest in catering to the educational needs of this segment of society and its programs like the Sarva shiksha abhyan, lack in scope and depth and provides meager and marginalized support. There is a conflict faced by the Madrasa institutions in that, they lack in resources to introduce English and computers and provide broad based education and decent living conditions. They prefer to safeguard their independence and insist on non-interference by the Govt. in matters of curriculum and working of their institutions. The Govt. shows no serious effort in educating the student and insists on controlling the Madrasa. This has led to the continuation of the abysmal conditions in the Madrasa. This conflict needs to be resolved with both parties understanding that the Student is the Subject and if he/she does not get a good education that will allow him to make a decent living and be a productive member of society, then the Madrasa as well as the Govt. is responsible for the negative fall out, and both parties need to take the blame and reap in the consequences.
The Mass Education Initiative with the support of the Private sector, (Individuals and corporations) and the Govt. sector as well as the Non-Govt. sector and with the help of the Media, would like to ameliorate the situation and will work on bringing in resources in support of providing broad based education as well as equipping the student with the skills that are in-demand and help them qualify for jobs by passing standardized exams. The objectives are simple, but since the strength of the Madrasa student is in hundreds of thousands and the govt. refuses to recognize them as deserving support, the problem is gigantic and urgent. It needs the support of all sectors of our society who value the importance and role of Education in making our society a better place for all to live in.