Role of Education
NGOs
in
Promoting
Conference on
‘Perspectives on Islamic Education in the ! st "entur#$ %uesda#& 'pril ( and )ednesda#& 'pril *& ++, #otel Ffrot Radissoon Raichak ,olkata -est !en"al *ndia .r"anized by+ /'erican Centers in *ndia
Presented by
M. Burhanuddin Qasmi Director
Markazul Ma’arif Education & Research Centre (MMERC) 4th Floor Musafirkahan !uildin" #$ M$ %aboo %iddiue Musafirkahan Mu'bai 4 (*ndia) E'ail+
[email protected]
Role of NGOs in Promoting Education
2
M$ !urhanuddin 0as'i
-eb site+ www.markazulmaarif.org
*n *sla'ic conte1t 23olunteeris'’ is the offer of ti'e ener"y efforts skills and knoled"e for the sake of /llah’s 5leasure hile 5ro'otin" "oodness in the orld or seekin" better'ent of 'ankind ithout any 'oti3e hatsoe3er of earnin" ealth fa'e or reco"nition$ 26olunteeris'’ in non7theolo"ical ter' 'eans 2the co''it'ent of ti'e ener"y etc$ for the benefit of society undertaken freely by choice ithout concern for financial "ain’$ #azrat 8abir bin /bdullah narrates that the Pro5het (%/-% had said+ 9E3ery act of "oodness is a sadaqah : charity$;
.s) hich are 3olunteerin" their ser3ices in 3arious fields around the orld are no doubt doin" co''endable ?obs$ =>.s e1tend education to under5ri3ile"ed children in *ndia and de3elo5 inno3ations that i'5ro3e the uality of 5ri'ary education$ E3ery "ood ork is i'5ortant ithout e1ce5tion but the ork for 2Pro'otion of Education’ by all 'eans is the best$ Education "i3es real 'eanin" to hu'an li3es therefore those orkin" for the 5ro'otion of education are the best 5eo5le and the =>.s in3ol3e in education are to 'e the best ones in the orld$ Importance of Education in Islam *n recent ti'es the uestion of Musli's educational backardness has been an i'5ortant ele'ent of 5olitical and social rhetoric in *ndia$ /lthou"h Musli's are not alone in reflectin" educational backardness yet recent static shos they are one of the 'ost backard co''unities in the field of education and literacy in the country$ o3t$ to achie3e B literacy ithin ten years fro' the enforce'ent of the constitution in A$
Role of NGOs in Promoting Education
3
M$ !urhanuddin 0as'i
for years and yearsK it is 3ery "loo'y scenario all around 3ery 5oor 5erfor'ance by all for 5ro'otion of education$ hare responsi/ilit# ahead *ndia has an onerous task ahead to 5ro3ide "ood uality schoolin" to all si1 to fourteen year olds$ *t is a task of enor'ous 5ro5ortions in e3ery ay$ *ndiaLs ele'entary education syste' is already one of the lar"est in the orld ith A 'illion children enrolled in nearly G thousand schools that 5ro3ide 5ri'ary education ithin k' to children in AB of the country$ Des5ite this A 'illion children are outside schools and an eual nu'ber do not co'5lete e3en A years of schoolin"$ o3ern'ent is debatable$ #oe3er the task of ensurin" basic education and literacy to e3ery child youth and adult also reuires the 3oluntary and 5ri3ate sectors as ell as co''unities to collaborate and contribute$ *t is a share res5onsibility for all7 >o3ern'ent co''unity and =>.s$ %uccessful e15eri'ents and ne a55roaches to education should e'er"e fro' =>.s$ /s stated earlier that *ndia has not been able to fulfill its constitutional 5led"e for 5ro3idin" free and co'5ulsory education for all children u5to the a"e of 4 nearly A decades after it as 'ade$ /nd therefore *ndia is still "ra55lin" ith serious 5roble's of inadeuate access uality and inefficiency in the schoolin" syste'$ o3ern'ent to for"e strate"ic alliances ith the 3oluntary sector$ *t is ti'e for sharin" of the 3ision of Hni3ersal Ele'entary Education (HEE) beteen the >o3ern'ent and the =>s hereby the >o3ern'ent reco"nizes the role of =>.s as inno3ators and 5rofessional resource centres and builds a culture of collaboration and 5artnershi5 and the =>.s in turn acuire a lar"er 'acro 5ers5ecti3e$ )hat NGOs can do for education0 =>s can 5lay an effecti3e role in assistin" the %tate to co'5le'ent the 5ublic education syste' and to i'5ro3e its effecti3eness$ /s 3arious sur3ey re3ealed that the e15eri'ental a55roaches of the =>.s ha3e successfully tackled 'any shortco'in"s in schoolin"$ =>.s in3ol3e'ent in education increases the accountability of the schoolin" syste' to the beneficiaries$ .s can establish 5artnershi5s ith the >o3ern'ent to share their 'odels rather than create islands of e1cellence$ . action is best in e3idence in the successful schoolin" of under5ri3ile"ed children co''unities in re'ote locations scheduled caste scheduled tribe and other children that face social barriers to education$ =>.s can find out and accordin"ly su""est the res5ecti3e authority that tar"eted actions are reuired for s5ecific de5ri3ed "rou5s for instance the urban 5oor child orkers or street children$ =>.s can 5ioneer the conce5ts of the 3oluntary teacher and the alternati3e school to counter teacher absenteeis' and to 'ake a55ro5riate education a3ailable for out of school children$ . in northeast *ndia can be 'entioned here$ o3ern'ent ithin a short s5an of one year ti'e (fro' %e5te'ber A to %e5te'ber G 4)$ Markazul
Role of NGOs in Promoting Education
4
M$ !urhanuddin 0as'i
Ma’arif has 'ade #o?ai a s'all ton in =o"aon district of /ssa' cent 5ercent lettered throu"h its Cent Percent iteracy Pro"ra''e (CPP) ith 'ini'u' e15enditure hich as later recei3ed by the state >o3ern'ent 5roudly$ to increase enrol'ents and retention in the 5ri'ary "rades$ "autions for NGOs /s it is e3ident that =>.s cannot be the uni3ersal re'edy for all the 5roble's that beset education in *ndia or elsehere in the orld$ . 5artici5ation in a lar"e7scale 5ublic education syste' is s'all$ .s can 'o3e to a 'ore strate"ic 5lane in the future but 5robably not e15and in uantitati3e ter's$ #oe3er the =>.s need to 5ay attention to the de3elo5'ent of their hu'an resources both technical and ad'inistrati3e as they acuire a bi""er role$ Professional de3elo5'ent is the key to future or"anizational "roth and technical e1cellence$ Process docu'entation and action research tended to be ne"lected a'on" 'ost =>.s$ .s need to reco"nize the i'5ortance of e1ternal e3aluation of their actions as a 'eans of increasin" credibility for lar"e7 scale a55lication$ =>.s need to build netorks a'on"st the'sel3es to create the o55ortunities for collecti3e action and ?oint ad3ocacy hich ill hel5 the' to "raduate to a 'acro role$ / cli'ate of 5artnershi5 based on 5rinci5les of euality needs to be built u5 a'on" =>.s$ )hat Government of India can do0 Hni3ersalization of Ele'entary Education (HEE) in *ndia is still a distant 5ros5ect$ rade * "o on to >rade 6 at the national le3el only an a3era"e of A@B children sur3i3e to >rade 6$ *ndia is thus "ra55lin" ith serious 5roble's of inadeuate access uality and inefficiency in the schoolin" syste'$ o3ern'ent of *ndia should create an at'os5here of =>.7>o3t$ alliance to achie3e uni3ersal 5ri'ary education as an ur"ent need$ /lthou"h the >o3ern'ent has been steadily increasin" its in3est'ent in education the reuire'ents and e15ectations of schoolin" ha3e also "ron$ . 'odel schools$
Role of NGOs in Promoting Education
5
M$ !urhanuddin 0as'i
o3ern'ent and non7>o3ern'ent sectors to close the "a5 in access euity and uality in ele'entary education$ / nu'ber of inno3ations and successful 'odels ha3e e3ol3ed in the 3oluntary sector$ *t is beco'in" increasin"ly e3ident that a 5lurality of institutional 5artnershi5s is reuired for the realisation of the "oals of HEE 7 beteen different a"encies and institutions of the >o3ern'ent7 beteen the >o3ern'ent and the =>. sector beteen the >o3ern'ent and the 5ri3ate sector$ o3ern'ent is yet to reco"nize =>.s as credible and full7fled"ed 5artners$ Collaboration ith =>.s has tended to be fra"'ented althou"h so'e be"innin"s ha3e been 'ade to en"a"e =>.s in national7le3el concerns$ =>.s ould need strate"ic institutional linka"es in order to reach 'ass ada5tation and re5lication$ *nno3ation at the 'ass le3el ill hel5 the =>s to 'o3e fro' 'icro action to 'acro a55lication$ *n the inter'ediate sta"e =>.s need to find institutional ho'es in the >o3ern'ent for their 'odels and also reco"nize their on li'itations$ 7777777777777777777777777777777 77777777777777777777777777777777777
