Jharkhand Urdu Teachers’ Union urges proper counting of minority students

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, August 4: The Jharkhand State Urdu Teachers’ Union (JSUTU), represented by Provincial Secretary Amin Ahmad, submitted a memorandum to the Under Secretary of School Education and Literacy Department, Primary Education Directorate, Jharkhand Government, urging for accurate data compilation of students studying Urdu. The Union emphasized the need for correctly reporting the number of students who were studying Urdu as a subject.

Amin Ahmad, along with Md Fakhruddin, assured the Additional Secretary and other officials of the Education Department that appropriate action would be taken soon after bringing the matter to their attention.

According to Amin Ahmad, the Union had directed all district education officers to submit the list pertaining to the number of students studying Urdu from all schools in the prescribed format. In some schools where Urdu unit was recognized yet the number of students studying Urdu in such institutions was reported as ‘zero.’ The Union highlighted discrepancies in such reporting as it did not account for students who were familiar with Urdu language and were enrolled in the schools even though the Urdu subject was not taught there. It was important to consider such students and include them in the count as students studying Urdu, said Amin Ahmad.

The Provincial Secretary of JSUTU further stated that there were schools where the Urdu unit was not recognized, but Urdu-speaking students were attending these schools. “Our Union has urged the authorities to create a separate category for such schools and establish an Urdu unit there to facilitate accurate counting of these minority students. The Union appeals to the Education Department to ensure that the counting of students from minority communities, particularly those studying Urdu, is done with precision and sincerity thereby providing them with adequate educational support,” he said.

Copies of the memorandum had been forwarded to the Secretary, School Education and Literacy Department, and the Director, Primary Education, Government of Jharkhand. The Union’s State Spokesperson, Shahzad Anwar, emphasized the need for prompt action by the Education Department in addressing this matter.