Under consideration: Sunday weekly off for UP madrassas

The Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board will discuss next month a proposal to change the weekly holiday of madrassas in the state from Friday to Sunday, its chairman Iftikar Ahmed Javed said on Wednesday.

The proposal, which came up during a meeting of the government-appointed board on Tuesday, was opposed by the teachers association of madrassas who said that weekly offs on Friday has been a practice since the beginning and effecting the change would send out a wrong message.

Assam has already changed holidays in madrassas from Friday to Sunday.

Javed told PTI that Tuesday's meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board was held in connection with making the necessary amendments to the 'Uttar Pradesh Non-Government Arabic and Farsi Recognition Administration and Service Regulation - 2016' and was attended by its members and madrassa representatives.

During the meeting, some madrassa representatives proposed to change the weekly holiday of madrassas in the state from Friday to Sunday, a long-pending demand of various stakeholders, he said.

However, some other representatives opposed the proposal in the meeting, he added.

Javed said a final decision on the proposal will be taken in a board meeting in January.

The Madrassa Board is a council run under the state government, which takes decisions regarding the system of madrassa education in the state.

Asked about the proposal to change the weekly off, Uttar Pradesh Minister for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari said that the matter has not yet come to his notice, and so he cannot comment on it.

''No decision has been made on this yet,'' the minister added.

Diwan Saheb Zaman, Uttar Pradesh general secretary of teachers association Madaris Arabiya, said special arrangements are made for Friday prayers and that is why it is a holiday for madrassas on Fridays.

If this system is changed, it will send out the wrong message, he said.

During Tuesday's meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board, only a couple of people had advocated changing the weekly holiday while the majority had opposed it, he claimed.

Madrassas across the country are usually closed on Friday.

Friday prayers have a special importance in Islam, and in view of the preparations for 'jumma', madrassas remain closed on this day, Zaman added.

According to official figures, 16,461 madrassas are currently being run in Uttar Pradesh, of which 560 get grants from the government.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)