No online content for more than 2.5 lakh Rajasthan madrasa students

JAIPUR: Online classes for government schools began a long time ago with educational content being uploaded for students to utilise their time. The government has, however, completely neglected students studying in madrasas in the state.
More than 2.5 lakh students are studying in 3,194 registered madrasas in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Madrasa Board, established to monitor the activities in the madrasas, has not taken any step regarding online education.
Syed Masud Akhtar, president of Rajasthan Madrasa Shiksha Sahyogi Sangh said that they have been raising this issue since lockdown but the government is not interested. “We have written to officials but no plan has been made for the students. Education in madrasas is similar to that in any government school, with one exception of Arabic being taught here. Most of the students have wasted their lockdown period and the government should chalk out a plan till the schools are closed,” said Akhtar.
The state government has started WhatsApp groups in which teachers and parents are added where educational content is uploaded. Groups are made according to sections and content is uploaded on Shala Darpan. But this initiative is restricted to government schools in the state and madrasas are not a part of it.
When TOI contact minority affairs department, officials said that nothing has been finalised regarding it. “We are planning to start online classes but final decision is yet to be made,” said a senior official. There are 2,867 primary madrasas and 327 secondary madrasas in the state.