Sanskrit to be taught in Uttarakhand madrasas, says Waqf Board chairman

In November last year, Shams had announced that all madrasas under the Waqf Board would have a uniform dress code with classes running from 8 am to 2 pm, just like other schools. He had also said that the Uttarakhand government would form a committee to survey all the madrasas in the state.

“The people of Devbhoomi are different from others. If our language, culture, and traditions are different from others, then our education pattern should also be different from others. Our children should learn our languages and prioritise that. We will appoint Sanskrit acharyas and Arabic teachers in our madrasas so that we can teach both languages. Our children will speak Sanskrit, Arabic and English too,” Shams told The Indian Express.

There are 117 madrasas under the Uttarakhand Waqf Board. In the first phase, the board will develop four of these — one each in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts — into model madrasas.

Shams said: “There will be namaz five times in the model madrasas. After the early morning namaz at around 6.30 am, an hour will be designated for Quran studies. From 8 am to 2 pm, the madrasa will run like a proper school. During that time, a school uniform would be mandatory just like any English-medium school,” he said.

Shams said spiritual leaders favour the implementation of Sanskrit in madrasas and appealed to them to adopt madrasas with less funds.