Prospects of Managing Madrasas in Nepal : Challenges and Future Direction

Abstract

Islamic education is a value based ancient seat of learning which is usually delivered in religious educational institutions popularly known as Madrasas. The challenge of managing Madrasas today lies in striking a balance between growing strength of modernity and traditional cultural as well as religious values of Islamic education. The challenge of transforming Madrasa as a learning organization-from survival learning to adaptive and generative learning- is there as it has to continue the tradition of Islamic instruction and prepare the Muslim children and youth for modernity that results from the world of work. Managing the transformation of Madrasa along the spirit of change is a daunting task for the Head of the Madrasa as it does not want to lose its identity as a cultural and religious epitome of Islamic education and learning. Growing number of Muslim girls in the Madrasas as compared to their counterparts-boys, indicates the issue of maintaining gender parity as the boys are more in favor of going beyond the traditional school to modern school leaving behind the case of empowering the girls through the tradition bound Madrasas. As the Madrasas in Nepal are a living cultural and religious reality, they should be managed as a cultural seat of learning by also being receptive to the demands posed by modernity