Common prayer norm irks AMC Urdu medium schools

“If the intention of the authorities in removing this age-old practice is honest then why have they not passed any written orders but verbally asked the schools to conduct their prayers with the Gujarati medium schools. We do not want our children to follow anti-Islam prayers in schools,” said Mohammad Ayub, the president of Jamalpur-based Social Edification and Welfare Association, in his representation submitted on December 8 to the Administrative Officer L D Desai.

The recent change has been implemented by the AMC School Board authorities on a trial basis from this week in Urdu medium schools of south zone. These areas include Behrampura, Chandola, Danilimda and Jamalpur. These schools have about 3,500-4,000 Urdu medium students. There are 65 Urdu schools and 300 Gujarati medium schools under AMC which have 18,000 and one lakh students, respectively.

When contacted, Desai justified the move terming it as a attempt towards social reform. “The board has noticed discrimination among students when it comes to morning and afternoon assembly sessions. We want to propagate the concept of ‘sarva dharma prathna’ sessions among students of various communities. To start with, we have chosen Urdu medium schools,” he said.