State madrassa board yet to be recognised in Uttarakhand, students stare at a bleak future

DEHRADUN

: The Uttarakhand

Madrassa

Education Board (

UMEB

), established in 2011, was formed under the aegis of the state government in order to bring recognition to the madrassa education in the state. However, students passing out from over 400 UMEB-affiliated madrassas have a bleak future as they are not eligible to take admission in neither state-run nor central-run universities and colleges, and enroll in regular courses like B. Tech, B.A, B.Com nor they can sit for government competition exams.

“I completed my Aalim course (equivalent to class 12) from a Doon-based madrassa in 2018. My parents are uneducated and were not informed about the lack of usage of the UMEB degree.

Most of the pass-outs either fall back to their family business or start doing some odd jobs like plumbing and carpentry. Others become religious teachers, but those who wish to get a regular education from a government university are left heartbroken,” said Mohammad Zeshaan, a 2016 UMEB graduate who lives in Dehradun.

Zeeshan

added, “I studied for a while at Dar-Ul-Uloom in Deoband, but gave exams in Uttarakhand. Had I given exams under the UP Madrassa Board, then my degree would have been recognised by higher educational institutions across the nation. Now, I aim to become a proper gym trainer and take part in powerlifting competitions since it does not require any educational degree.” Another state

madrassa board

student, Mohammad Arshad, said that he came to know about the madrassa degree when he went to apply for a passport.

“I studied in a madrassa based near ISBT in Dehradun. I did my

Munshi

course (equivalent to class X) in 2018. After the exams, I thought of doing an electrician course from ITI and going to Saudi Arabia for work. But when I went to apply for the passport, I got to know that the UK Madrassa Board is not recognised by the passport office and they marked me in the illiterate category,” said Arshad.

“The issue regarding equivalence certificates is being negotiated with the state government,” said Abdul Yameen, deputy registrar of UMEB.


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