Both sisters attend class three and start their day by grappling with mathematical concepts while solving problems in a musty medium-sized notebook. Not long after, in the next lesson, a cacophony of voices fills the classroom as they recite simple Urdu phrases after their teacher.
“My parents sent us to a madrasa as they wanted us to have an Islamic education,” says the soft-spoken Sabina. The ten-year-old has schooled here for five years, since nursery, and dreams of becoming an English teacher. English is her favorite subject.
Madrasas are religious schools that provide education for Muslim youth, and these schools focus on various aspects of Islam-from the recitation and understanding of the holy Quran to learning Arabic and Urdu.
However, at Madrasa Islamiya-the only madrasa certified by the Ministry of Education, according to principal Niyaz Ahmed-which offers a holistic education of both government and Islamic curriculums, students learn up to ten subjects.
“Our education is unique,” says Mohammad Sanaullah, a teacher at the madrasa. “We have both government and religious curriculums and students learn up to four languages: Nepali, English, Urdu and Arabic.”
It has only been a year since the madrasa merged its Islamic curriculum with the government´s curriculum, which includes subjects such as mathematics, science and social studies, according to president of the Madrasa Islamiya Salim Uddin.
Despite the greater number of subjects that the students have to study, 57-year-old Salim feels that his students are coping well with both sets of subjects.
Agreeing with Salim that juggling both Islamic and secular knowledge is not difficult, principal Niyaz says: “What is more important is that the students should understand and know early on what Islam is all about.”
Besides its unique curriculum, the 70-year-old Madrasa also extends its help to students from poor families. Among its almost 300 students, seven out of ten do not have to pay schools fees, which can range from Rs 800 to 1000 for initial payments, and the Rs 150-a-month fees.
This way, even poor Muslim families can afford to give their children a proper education, says president Salim. “As this madrassa is poor, we are supported in no small measure by the masjid, in terms of funding,” Salim adds. He says that the masjid committee donates Rs 52,000 every month for the running of the school.
Secretary of the Nepali Jame Masjid Mansur Hussain confirms that this is the case and says that his committee works to support madrasas and mosques in the city. The 38-year-old Mansur, a businessman, says that the rent from Jame market, beside Kathmandu´s biggest mosque, is the main source for funds that go into supporting Islamic activities in the community.
“In terms of financial support, both the president and the principal can consult with the committee, and we will try to help in any way,” Mansur says.
The integrating of the government curriculum meant that programs would be needed to provide some funding for the madrasa, says president Salim. “But so far, there is nothing,” he says.
He is hoping that there will be increased funding in the future so that he can create a new, bigger building and so that he can provide a better environment for the education of students like Sabina Khatun. That is Salim´s plan.
“But only Allah knows for sure” he says.
For now, things look pretty good, and there is conviction of purpose, too, all around. Principal Niyaz Ahmed probably sums it up best: “We are hopeful that at the end of the day, our students from this madrasa will grow up to become good Muslims who will serve society well.”
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