The Centre for Professional Development of Urdu Medium Teachers (CPDUMT) under the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) here, has so far imparted training in teaching to 3,000 Urdu teachers in five years since its establishment. The Centre came up in 2006 and is funded by the University Grants Commission.
According to Prof. Mazharuddin Farooqui, Director of the Centre, (see picture), focus is on improving pedagogic (teaching) skills of the Urdu teachers. The Centre caters to the need of seven states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is worth noting that two more such centres were also set up simultaneously in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia for catering to the needs of the North Indian States. Currently, Jammu and Kashmir has the largest number of Urdu medium schools. The figure stands at 17,146. It is followed by Maharashtra with 5,641 and Karnataka 5,159. Andhra Pradesh has 2,799 Urdu medium schools. The Centre is currently compiling data about the Urdu medium schools and resource centres.
Farooqui says the Centre has been organizing training workshops in various centres with concentration of Urdu medium schools as well as at the centre within MANUU campus at Gachi Bowli, 20 kms from the city centre of Hyderabad. It targets at teachers working in all levels of Urdu medium schools, madrassas and maktabs, anganwadi and balwadi schools, adult and non-formal educational agencies and for inspecting officers and educational functionaries. The duration of training programmes extends from one week to four weeks, while conferences, seminars and fairs and exhibitions too are organized frequently.
Farooqui says they even train teachers who teach English and computers to the Urdu medium students. The Centre has so far held 35 programmes during the last five years. These programmes were aimed at creating basic competency in reading, writing, understanding and speaking. Over all emphasis is on communication technology. The teachers are made aware of the latest development in the field of education and training, provided the latest survey findings, and trained in preparing self-instructional material.
Asked if the Centre has done anything to homogenize the Deccani accent, Farooqui said the Centre does not try to homogenize the accent as accent by itself cannot be wrong as it represents the popular form of phonetics. Similarly, it has not prepared any glossary of Deccani words that are commonly spoken in the four South Indian states.
He however says, the demand for training of Urdu teachers was increasing from Kerala, where Urdu does not constitute the mother tongue of any sizeable section.
The Centre can be contacted at Director, CPDUMT, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500032. Director’s email: [email protected], Ph: 94402-10127.
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