Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU)
Faculty
2019/ 40% of faculty can’t teach in Urdu
Sudipta Sengupta, Nov 17, 2019: The Times of India
About three years ago, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (Manuu) in Hyderabad rolled out a six-month certificate course in basic Urdu. One would imagine that it is targeted at beginners looking to learn the language but as it turns out, it’s for its own staff.
Reason? About half the faculty members at India’s only Urdu university cannot teach Urdu or other subjects in Urdu — a claim corroborated by a large section of scholars on and off the campus.
In fact, many say that Manuu’s vice-chancellor Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz’s recent revelation about 40% of teachers not being competent in Urdu is only an under-estimation. “In reality, the percentage is much higher. Many of them have certificates to claim otherwise, but ask them to write two lines in Urdu and they’ll fail,” says a senior faculty member.
As per its official website, Manuu’s mandate, when set up in 1998, was to “promote and develop the Urdu language and to impart vocational and technical education in Urdu medium through conventional and distance modes”. Twentyone years on, students say many of the courses are still taught with English textbooks. Worse, there is “little development” of the language on campus with all its study material being sourced from outside.
Those associated with the university say the authorities should have ensured that the Urdu textbooks are in place before starting courses. “All the 50-odd books that we have translated are done by experts from outside. That’s because I could not get anybody from the university to do so,” the V-C told TOI.
“I do not have data to confirm the V-C’s claim, but if that’s true, he is saying the right thing at the wrong time,” said chancellor Firoz Bakht Ahmed. “It should be made mandatory for all teachers who don’t know Urdu to clear a one-year diploma.” Experts off-campus say recruitment through references needs to stop.
