India’s Muslim community has higher illiteracy and drop out rates than the national averages. Many Muslim children in India attend madrasas, Islamic religious schools. These schools traditionally provide religious education, but do not teach state-approved curricula for math, science, social studies and language, making them ineligible to receive state funding. Unfortunately, this causes a vicious cycle: without state funding, madrasas find it difficult to build the capacity to teach these subjects; and by not teaching the state-approved curricula they are unable to receive government funding. Yet, madrasas enjoy strong community support. Their safe environments appeal to many parents -- especially those with daughters – and they tend to be less expensive and more accessible than government schools.

Increasingly, madrasa administrators are realizing their students and communities need math, science, social studies and language skills to participate and prosper in India’s growing economy. USAID and its partner work with Muslim community leaders and madrasa administrators with an excellent support from the state government to improve the madrasas’ curricular offerings, enhance the range of educational services madrasas provide to their communities, and prepare madrasas to meet government standards and apply for state certification. USAID’s Madrasa Education Program in Andhra Pradesh, on the one hand builds trust between the state government and the madrasas and on the other, supports madrasas. Activities include:

• Incorporate the state government-approved curricula;
• Improve teaching quality and subject matter proficiency;
• Identify, enroll and retain out-of-school children;
• Introduce remedial classes that act as a bridge for drop outs to re-enter formal education; and
• Conduct employability training that provides marketable skills to youth and connects them to employers.