A community. A shared purpose.
About the madarsa
Madrasa Noorul Uloom has taught the children of Pokharbhitwa since 1978. We are a day madarsa of 275 children, Nursery to Class 5, boys and girls.
Our roots
Where the madarsa came from, and what it promises
At a glance
- Students
- 275
- Classes
- Nursery to 5
- Teaching since
- 1978
The madarsa opened on 26 September 1978, so the children in Class 5 this year are being taught in a building their grandparents helped put up. It has never been a boarding madarsa and it has never been a seminary.
Children come in the morning and go home at two. Most of our families are from Yasodhara and the villages around it, and a great many of our fathers and uncles are working in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Gulf — which is how the madarsa is largely paid for, a thousand or two thousand rupees at a time, sent home every month.
What we promise is narrow and we would rather be judged on it: a child who finishes Class 5 here reads the Qur'an correctly with Tajweed, understands enough Arabic to follow what they are reading, and is at the right level in Nepali, English and Mathematics to join Class 6 at any school in the district.
What families can count on
Three things we can be held to
Every child is taught to read, not to recite from memory alone
A child who has memorised a surah but cannot read it has not been taught. Reading comes first here, for every child, including those doing Hifz.
Every class is small enough for the teacher to hear each child read
Reading is heard one child at a time, not taken on trust from a class reciting together. A child who is behind is known to be behind in the same week, not at the end of the term.
The accounts are open to the families
Every rupee in and out is written in the register — donations, the electricity bill, chairs, welding. It is totalled every month and any parent may ask to see it.
The people behind the promise
Who runs the madarsa
The madarsa is run by a committee drawn from the families of the children who attend it. The committee meets every month and the accounts are read out at that meeting. These ten are the signatories to the madarsa's Vidhan.
Our management10
Meet the people guiding Noorul Uloom.
Supported by our own people
How it is paid for
The madarsa is carried by its own people. 50+ donors are on the register this year, most of them families from this ward working in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and sending money home by bank transfer. It receives no government grant. Where a family is in difficulty, the gap is met from those donations, quietly and without a fuss.
If you would like to give zakat or chanda to the madarsa, come to the office or call 9828821332. Every donation is receipted and entered in the same accounts as everything else.
A little clarity
Questions we are asked
The six the office answers most often on the phone.
Do you take girls?
Yes. Boys and girls, Nursery to Class 5.
What happens after Class 5?
Class 5 is our last year. Children leave us able to join Class 6 at a school in the district, and most do. We will help with the paperwork.
Is Hifz compulsory?
No. Hifz is for children who want it and whose families want it. Every child learns to read the Qur'an correctly; memorising the whole of it is a separate commitment and we will tell you honestly whether we think your child is ready.
My child has never studied anywhere. Can they still come?
Yes. Most of our Nursery children start with nothing at all. That is normal and it is what Nursery is for.
Anything here we have not answered, the office will answer on the telephone.