30 January, 2009

Madrasa certificates on a par with those issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)

The Hindu, 21st January, 2009

NEW DELHI: In a bid to mainstream madrasa education, the government has decided to place madrasa certificates on a par with those issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and affiliates of the Council of Board of School Education in India (COBSE).

This was announced here on Tuesday by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh while inaugurating the annual conference of the State Minorities Commissions.

As for the contentious issue of setting up a Central Madrassa Board, the Minister said it was still under consideration.

Mr. Singh said he had approved the recommendations of the CBSE and the COBSE to provide Madrasa certification equivalence with other school education boards. This decision, he added, would make pass-outs from madrasas eligible for jobs under the government of India.

Most State education boards and the Council for The Indian School Certificate Examinations are members of the COBSE, which is a voluntary association of school education boards from across the country.

Addressing the gathering, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said the government should consider equipping the National Commission for Minorities with the instrumentality of investigation of the type given to the National Human Rights Commission and the Scheduled Castes Commission. Likewise, he suggested that the option of legislation similar to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 should be explored for minorities.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Even though I'm not a supporter of the Sangh Parivar, equating Madrassa certificates with CBSE is total non-sense. This will only bring down the value of the jobs occupied by Madrassa certificate holders.