The neighbourhoods of Mehdipatnam and Toli Chowki are connected to IT Hub by means of the Old Mumbai highway. While the area is now a hub of commercial activity, over five years or so it has witnessed a spurt in government-recognised schools that offer courses in Islam tailor-made for students.
Educationalists say that there are broadly two reasons that have given rise to the trend. The first being several parents of nuclear families having little or no time or expertise to impart religious education. The second is that with both forms of education under one roof, it has proved to be more convenient. Alongside the prescribed subjects, an SSC school has several classes a week earmarked for Islamic education.
Parents say they chose the schools as Islamic education came as an incentive with it. Mohammed Munawer Ali is the parent of three children who are studying in one such school at Toli Chowki. His son, the eldest, is in class VII and his daughters are studying in classes IV and I.
For Mr. Ali, while excellence in education remains non-negotiable, an Islamic course in school is more convenient as all forms of instruction are under one roof. “While academics is the focus, Islamic education is a value addition which helps children when then grow up as they can stay connected to the community. What is taught are manners and how to respect each other as Prophet Muhammad did,” he says.
Mr. Ali is only one of the thousands of parents in the city who have their children studying in such schools. While some schools like those associated with Urwah Educational Trust follow an in-house Islamic syllabus, others have begun to follow a curriculum that the Muslim Educational Social and Cultural Organisation (MESCO) has designed. The course, ALEEF, touches upon Quran recitation, basic knowledge of Islam and the life of Prophet Muhammad. “This is like moral science class that used to exist,” says Fakhruddin Mohammed, secretary of MESCO. “Education and moral science complement each other. The case is the same with Islamic curriculum. With both parents with jobs in nuclear families, there is hardly any time to teach this to children,” he adds.
But there are some who differ with the parents’ opinion claiming that religion should be kept out of school campuses. Activist Ali Asghar says, “Teaching any one religion could lead to self-imposed segregation. This means that schools will attract students of one particular community. Diversity is essential and this leads to all-round development of a child.”
