After 38 years, syllabus of Arabic schools to be revised

September 26, 2017 12:46 am | Updated 12:46 am IST - Bengaluru

For the first time in 38 years, Arabic schools will teach new lessons. The syllabus at 320 Arabic schools across the State, which have about 16,800 students, is finally being revised.

It will be implemented from the next academic year. The syllabus was framed for these schools in 1979.

Arabic schools impart courses at three levels in this order — Tahataniya, Ustaniya and Foukhaniya. While Tahataniya and Foukhaniya are three-year courses, Ustaniya is a two-year course. Students attend classes lasting two hours each in the morning and evening, while also attending regular school in between. The Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board conducts an exam for these schools.

Zohra Jabeen, Director (Minority), Department of Public Instruction (DPI), said the demand for teachers and translators is fuelling the need for these schools.

The medium of instruction in the schools is Arabic, but they also have other languages such as Urdu and Persian. Some of the subjects taught are Arabic, Persian, Islamic history, Arabic grammar and composition, and Urdu. In these schools, Kannada is studied as the third language.

Sources in the Education Department said the syllabus is designed in tandem with the principles of the National Curriculum Framework-2005. It is being revised under pressure from the schools themselves as the content is now outdated. The new lessons incorporate concepts such as activity-based learning. The DPI has formed committees that will be instrumental in framing the syllabus for 29 titles. Officials have finalised the content and are proofreading of text now.

According to Shakir Husain, principal of Anjuman Arabic College in Indi taluk, Vijayapura, and chairman of the committee on Arabic and Persian language texts, the objective behind the revision is to modernise Arabic education.

“As the syllabus was framed about four decades ago, there are several words that are not used or relevant now. We want our children to stay up to date,” he said. He added that the new texts will introduce concepts such as environment protection and national integration.

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