Sanskrit will soon be made compulsory in all the madrassas of Uttarakhand. According to a Times of India report, the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board (UMEB) has prepared a formal proposal for this and if it is approved, Sanskrit will be taught to students of classes 5 to 8 in madrassas of the state.
The board, which is already offering Arabic language in madrassas in the state, also aims to include Sanskrit in the curriculum from the next academic session. Waqf Board Chairman Shadab Shams told the news agency that both Sanskrit and Arabic are ancient languages and students need to learn both the subjects.
To implement Sanskrit in madrassas, UMEB plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sanskrit department in the state. Apart from this, it also aims to add computer studies to the curriculum.
Board Chairman Mufti Shamoon Qasmi told the news agency that several meetings have already been held with Sanskrit department officials and they are waiting for the approval. The report said that once the green signal is given, the madrassas will start appointing Sanskrit teachers.
The board is planning to convert all 117 madrassas registered under UMEB into model institutions. “They have reached out to ex-servicemen to help inculcate a sense of nationalism among the students. “There are around 1,000 madrassas in Uttarakhand and as more madrassas register with us, we aim to upgrade them,” Shams told TOI.
Earlier this year, Uttarakhand Waqf Board presented Ramayana In the curriculum of madrassas. The story of Lord Ram was initially to be introduced in one of the four madrassas – Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts – from the 2024 academic session. Officials had said that after this it would be added to the remaining 113 madrassas. The Uttarakhand Waqf Board had also said that it would appoint principals for four madrassas, who would be given the task of recruiting teachers to teach Ramayana to students.
