By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain
Kolkata: A Hindu girl has secured the 10th position in this year’s Madrasa Board Examinations in West Bengal, the only Islamic school board system approved by the federal government.
Prashama Sasmal from Hariharpur village of Howrah district scored 729 marks. She is the only non-Muslim to secure a top position. Her achievement is likely to improve the consensus on the performance as well as the secular nature of madrassa education system, reports twocircles.net.
When asked why she admitted her daughter in a madrassah, Prashama’s mother said the Al Ameen Mission is known to produce the brightest students and ensure their bright future. “We never felt that studying in a madrassa will disrupt her career,” she added.
Prashama conveyed her message to the world through Facebook, and some leading Bengali newspaper reproduced the same. The Anandabazar Patrika quoted the post as saying, “At first I was very fearful for my parents’ decision as it was seemed that madrassa means a sheer matter of apprehension. But when I started to come and live here, everything became normal gradually with the companionship of Anowara, Fatema, Shamima, Reshma. This madrassa has turned to be a temple to me.”
She also added, “I never felt that I am staying in an alien place….I celebrated Eid with them, they came home for Saraswati Puja…not a single day reminds me that there is a difference between Hindus and Muslims.”
Prashama also added an important statistic to her post: “Out of a total of 52,115 students who appeared for the High madrassa exam, there are 2,287 Hindu students for this year.”
The West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education is the state government administered autonomous examining authority for affiliated and recognized madrasahs in West Bengal, India. This is among the oldest post-secondary boards in India and the only madrasah board recognized by the Indian government.
The board declared the results of High madrassa, Alim and Fazil on May 16. Senior madrassa is a combination of Theology and Islamic Culture with Science and Technology. It comprises with two other categories. From class 1 to 10, it is called Alim madrassas—similar to the present day Madhyamik system and Fazil madrassas are like that of the Higher Secondary system starting from 1 to 12 class.
Arifuddun Sk of Murshidabad’s Amirabad High madrassa and Golam Sarwar Parve of the same madrassa jointly topped the exams with 763 marks in High madrassa. A total of 36,276 girls appeared for the exam.
The pass percent of boys are 83.95 whereas the percent of the girls is 75.89. There are 5 girls in the top 20 lists.
The board teaches subjects such as English, Mathematics, or Sciences, with Arabic and Islam Parichay as an addition.
Madrasah is an Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious. The word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the Islamic religion, though this may not be the only subject taught. In countries such as India, not all students in madrasas are Muslims. They also have a modern curriculum.