MY INTERESTING TRYST WITH A MADRASSA BOY
Following the birth of Islam in the seventh century, Muslims religious education derived form study circles in mosques led by religious teachers (known as Moulvis). Mosques were idle places of teaching of Islamic beliefs. By the 11th century, madrassas had become well-established independent centres of learning, with some characteristics that they still have today. They had permanent structures, paid staff and resident scholars who were provided with living quarters and stipends. Students were provided with basic housing, food and free education. However, the conditions have changed now. Madrassas are lacking adequate infrastructure and facilities which hinders students in acquiring the knowledge and skill to compete with their counterparts.My tryst begins with a visit to madrassa in a nearby village where I was invited for the celebration of Republic day in 2022. While I was interacting with the teachers (Moulvis) and students of the madrassa, I saw a group of boys looking at me constantly but were hesitant to interac with me. I initiated the interaction then two boys in their early teen responded. I started talking to them one by one to know more about them.Ramzan Mohd,18 years old appeared to be the oldest in the group, and resided in the madrassa. I noticed melancholy in his eyes when I asked him about his dreams. He said to me with a deep breathe that he used to look up at the sky as a child and always imagined becoming a pilot and flying an aeroplane someday. However, his financial situation was not favourable, his father is a farmer and owns little amount of land. They hardly manage to maintain themselves on a daily basis. Up until the third grade, he went to a Government School. His father could not afford his education and decided to send him to a Madrassa. After Ramzan had joined the madrassa, he came to know that the education over here is restricted to religious teaching only. This was not sufficient to achieve his dream of becoming a pilot. He tried many times to convince his father to let him continue with his regular studies but his father did not allow him due to financial restrictions. He had to give upon his dreams, just because the madrassas do not have the same curriculum as other regular schools.Similar to Ramzan, Shohail Pir a young boy of the age of 15 years had a similar story to share. He used to love sports and wanted to become a cricketer and play for our country. He had such big dreams since he was just a kid. He was known as Tendulkar of his district and had quite a good reputation. He wanted to pursue his dreams. He always wanted to go to a school where he could study well and also play sports. But his family couldn’t support his dreams. He was sent to a madrassa without access to such amenities. He was never able to pursue his sport in madrassa due to non availability of curriculum & facilities. Due to the shortage of resources and fixed curriculum in madrassas, many untold stories have come to an end. Today, the madrassa is largely a facility where youth belonging to financially weak families are educated. This has hampered the progress of these young minds because they are not given fundamental education. The Madrasas follow several educational strands, but in general, they promotes the fundamentals of Urdu and Arabic, as well as appropriate Quran recitation (tajweed). The lack of facilities for sports and different education programs has ended in failure in employment of youth. We all know that unemployment and lack of education are the main cause of degradation of society which needs to be addressed at the earliest.
