Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed Javed is the President of UP Madarsa Education Board, appointed by the Government of UP. He is also the Founder-Director of Royal Academic School in Varanasi and running the school for empowering Muslim students to become an integral part of mainstream. A brilliant educationist and reformer, he has done PhD in Statistics for Banaras Hindu University – BHU. In an exclusive interview, Dr. Javed underscores how he is on a mission to bring in tectonic shift in the education of students in Madarsa.
1. What’s your priority now?
I want to bring in transformational changes in the Madarsa educational system by making it modern and technology oriented. The education should be job-oriented, and the students should have access to various vocational and technical courses to make them future ready. The world is changing faster, and we must focus on the education to make our future perfect and warrant inclusiveness and integrity in Madarsa so that the students learning there can come at par with the mainstream, become responsible citizens, and contribute towards the growth of the nation.
2. How is Govt. of UP supporting the Madarsa education in the state?
Aligned with the vision of Prime Minister who envisions Muslims should have Quran in one hand and computer in the other, the Govt. of UP has been working towards the modernisation of Madarsa educational ecosystem. Now we are focusing on computer and IT education. Today, NCERT books are being included in the Madarsa education for improving the learning standards. In Uttar Pradesh, there are 19,000 government affiliated Madarsas of which 560 are govt-aided. In 2021, the Govt. of UP funded Rs. 479 crore for Madarsa. The funding for the Madarsa has been increasing constantly.
3. What’s the scenario of Muslim girls’ education?
The ratio of Muslim girls in the education is low. As Muslim boys are involved in the family businesses, the girls are taking a stride in education. The time is changing, and the Muslim girls are now opting for higher education and performing well.
4. What would you like to do to change the image of Madarsa? Madarsa played a key role during pre-independent and early independent period by producing brilliant students who became civil servants, scientists, doctors, and entrepreneurs. Because of some unscrupulous people, the image of Madarsa has been tarnished, I will try to transform it and hope it will regain its past glory while contributing towards national integration and development.