Hyderabad: The Arabic language degrees which were earlier confined to students of Madrasas, are now drawing students from the mainstream too. This is mainly thanks to the multinational firms who are hiring those proficient in the language to work in their organisation. In the last couple of years, universities and colleges in the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have started Arabic as a diploma or degree course.
The Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad is one of the institutions in the city offering Arabic course at various levels. The university offers an MA (Arabic) course. According to the faculty, there is a huge demand for the course. Dr. Syed Aleem Ashraf Jaisi, Associate Professor, Department of Arabic, says that the course has become a hit in the last couple of years.
“Companies look for translators and interpreters of Arabic language and they are visiting the campus to recruit students. Hiring foreigners will be too expensive for them so they are looking at locals who hold degrees in the Arabic language,” Dr Syed Aleem said. He says that corporate companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google hire candidates who are proficient in Arabic to check the content.
Professor Mohammed Mustafa Shareef of the Department of Arabic, Osmania University, said that earlier only those from the Madrasa or Islamic seminary background enrolled for the Arabic course. “The trend is changing now with many enrolling in the course as there is a wider scope for employment now,” feels Professor Mustafa.
In Andhra Pradesh too, the Department of International language at the Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, started Arabic language course as a diploma last year. “This academic year, we introduced B.A (Arabic) course as there is scope for employment with foreign companies starting their businesses here,” says Professor Anjaneyulu, Director International studies ANU.
Another college in Vijaywada, the SSR and CRR Government (an autonomous college) also started the Arabic courses. On Thursday, the Al Mahad Al Dini Al Arabi, a decades-old madrasa affiliated to the MANUU, announced that it would start a ‘College of Islamic and Arabic Studies’ at its premises in Shahalibanda. Separate classes will be held for women and men, Mohammed Khaja Shareef, a scholar from Jamia Nizamia and member of Madrasa committee said.
- Corporate educational institutions hiring Arabic faculty to teach intermediate students.
- Companies hiring Arabic language graduates and post graduates for call centre and as translators.
- Gulf job aspirants are also enrolling for Arabic diploma courses.
