Bihar to bring IT to madrassas

The Bihar government plans soon to bring information technology (IT) to the state’s madrassas for modern education, Minority Welfare Minister Shahid Ali Khan has said.

“It’ll help madrassa students to learn about the benefits of IT in day-to-day life,” Khan said.

He said the government would spend Rs.28 crore on the project.

Though the union government began the process of modernising madrassas in 1994, the state government introduced the process in Bihar in 2002.

Officials of the Bihar State Madrasa Education Board said that under the modernisation scheme, courses would be revised to keep it in tune with the curricula of the Bihar School Examination Board and the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Some madrassas even encourage students to join the National Cadet Corps (NCC) or the Scouts and Guides.

According to the Bihar education board, the state has over 4,000 madrassas. Of these, 1,127 are state-run in which the government pays the staff and provides students with free books and mid-day meal.

Two years ago, the state government decided to provide financial support to 2,700 unaided madrassas.

According to the first-ever status paper brought out by the Bihar State Madrassa Education Board, there are only 32 madrassas for girls under the government-aided category and 576 in the unaided category.