Madrassas in seven districts of Karnataka switch to Kannada for Islamic studies

This decision has been taken as it is easy for the students to grasp the local language, which also happens to be the mother tongue of most of them.
Madrassas in seven districts of Karnataka switch to Kannada for Islamic studies
Madrassas in seven districts of Karnataka switch to Kannada for Islamic studies
Written by:

Kannada in schools, banks and metro stations. And now, madrassas in seven districts of Karnataka have switched to Kannada from their original Malayalam or Arabic as a medium of instruction.

According to a report by the Times of India, for several decades now, Quranic studies were taught to children in Karnataka in Arabic or Malayalam, even though they were not literate in these languages.

The Karnataka Salafi Movement (KSM) in Dakshina Kannada district, which has 60 madrassas under it, has decided to switch to Kannada as a medium of instruction, as it is easy for the children to grasp the local language, which also happens to be the mother tongue of most of the students.

The transition began in 2010 and the madrassas under the jurisdiction of the KSM began teaching Quranic studies for children from classes 1 to 8, in Kannada, the TOI report adds.

“Children used to find these two languages (Arabic and Malayalam) a hard nut to crack as they did not speak either at home or school. So, we thought about imparting madrassa education in a language they study at school (Kannada) and it has worked positively ever since its introduction,” Ismail Shafi, President of KSM Dakshina Kannada told TOI.

In seven districts of Karnataka, madrassas and schools are run by the Salafi Education Board. These districts include Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga and Kodagu.

Currently, 6,000 students across various schools in these districts are being taught in Kannada.

These schools have translated Quranic lessons to Kannada. The madrassa lessons are held every morning and evening for an hour.

According to the TOI report, having the madrassa school’s literature translated to Kannada has brought transparency in what is being taught.

It is a common notion that madrassas are used to propagate terrorism and terror-related activities through brainwashing. With the literature in Kannada, the locals will know what is being taught to their children, the report adds.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com