News
Jaipur Madrassa hires hindu principal from RSS school
The Rehmani Model School has a unique distinction of hiring Kailash Chandra Yadav a hindu as their principal. Founder, Abdul Qayyum Akhtar says that the educational qualification of teachers matters, not their affiliations or their religion.
The walled city area of Jaipur has long stood for breathtaking architecture and a kaleidoscope of shops. The Rehmani Model School fits right in with its unique distinction and kaleidpscope of management. Having progressed to a school from a madrassa, it provides for the educational needs of 1,300 students from the minority community. Guiding them like a caring patriarch is the school principal Kailash Chandra Yadav, who has previously worked with RSS's Aadarsh Vidhya Mandir.
The school stands with pride as a symbol of communal harmony in the congested lanes of Ramganj, a minority dominated area. It is an all muslim school with several students hailing from lower-middle class families. The school board, too, is all Muslim but several of its teachers are Hindus. Of the staff of 63 teachers, 9 – including the principal – are Hindus. In fact, the school hired its first non-Muslim teacher in 1995 while Yadav holds the distinction for being its first non-Muslim principal.
"Having worked in Aadarsh Vidhya Mandir, it seemed almost weird to work for a Muslim school. However, that feeling passed soon. I am glad to be helping students who come from a community who do not always get these facilities," said Yadav.
Besides teaching and steering the school towards academic excellence, Yadav and his team of teachers are facing a much larger task at hand than just teaching. "Financial condition of some students is so bad that the parents stop sending them. The parents have to be convinced to send their children as they think education is not important," he said.
Abdul Qayyum Akhtar, chairman of Rehmani Welfare Society and also the founder of this madrassa-turned-school admits that people in his community are not eager to educate their children.
Talking about enlisting non-Muslim teaching staff and Principal, he says, "To me the educational qualification of teachers matters, not their affiliations or their religion. At our school, we celebrate Eid but do not forget to greet each other during Holi and Diwali."