Children’s literature added to madrasa curriculum

For the first time in the history of the madrasa schooling system in Pakistan, contemporary children’s literature has been added as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of primary and secondary education.

One of the leading madrasas in the country, the Madrasa Jamiatul-Iman, Karachi has recently integrated a leading children’s monthly magazine, “Mahnama Sathee”, in its curriculum for classes-IV to VI.

The move is aimed at improving the students’ language skills and introducing young minds to both classic and contemporary literature being produced in Urdu language.

In addition to that, special emphasis has been given on letter writing, a unique genre of Urdu literature that is now on the verge of becoming obsolete owing to technological development and digitalisation of communication.

“Mahnama Sathee has been introduced as a compulsory part of school curriculum taught at madrasas to help schoolchildren develop and improve their reading and creative writing skills and to increase children’s vocabulary, self-expression and communication for their intellectual development and growth,” said Mudassir Hussain Ansari, the principal of the Jamiatul-Iman, Karachi.

Azam Tariq, the editor of the Monthly Sathee said, “It has been more than 39 years since Monthly Sathee started its journey to revive children’s literature in Urdu. Now, its integration as a compulsory subject in madrasa curriculum happens to be an official acknowledgement given by today’s academic world.”