LUCKNOW: Communicating the voice of more than 22,000 teachers of recognized madrassas of Uttar Pradesh, who have not received salary from the central government in the last 55 months, state madrassa board chairperson Iftikhar Ahmed Javed has written to PM Narendra Modi seeking his intervention.
Last month, Akhil Bhartiya Madrassa Teachers' Union and All India Madrassa Modern Teachers’ Association wrote to Javed about the poor conditions of the teachers who are struggling for decent livelihood.
In 1994, former PM Atal Vihari Vajpayee had launched Scheme for Providing Education To Madrasas/Minorities (SPEMM) to encourage traditional institutions like madrassas and maktabs by giving financial assistance to introduce science, mathematics, social studies, Hindi and English in their curriculum so that academic proficiency for classes I-XII is attainable for children studying in these institutions.
Currently there are more than 20 lakh students who are studying in 16,513 madrassas across the state. However, teachers under SPEMM were enrolled in 7,442 madrassas. The remaining madrassas too are following modern education, but their teachers are being funded by private entities.
Speaking to TOI, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said, “For the last 55 months, teachers of madrassas have not received a single penny from the Centre. Therefore, we have sought the intervention of PM Narendra Modi.”
Graduate qualified teachers are paid Rs 8,000 per month, including Rs 2,000 per month from state government, while postgraduate teachers are paid Rs 16,000 per month, including Rs 3000 per month from state.
“The payment of teachers is paid by the Centre and state government jointly at a 60:40 ratio. The state has been paying the salary to teachers regularly, but the Centre has not paid,” said Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, the board chairperson.
