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AFTER CONDUCTING a nationwide assessment have been conducted for the minority based schools, the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has advised the government to cover schools such as madarasas, under the supervision of campaigns like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Right to Education.

The NCPCR also supported the quota for students based on minority communities after the assessment told that a large number of non-minority based students study there.

According to the report of NCPCR assessment, which got out on Tuesday, 74 percent students studying in Christian missionary schools come from the non-minority based communities. About 62.50 per cent students studying in such schools come from non-minority communities.

The report with a title “Impact of Exemption under Article 15 (5) with regards to Article 21A of the Constitution of India on Education of Minority Communities’’ quotes that it was discovered that most number of children studying outside the schools are 1.1 crore and they are from the Muslim community.

“The aim of the study was to assess how the 93rd Amendment, which exempts minority institutions from the otherwise mandatory provisions of Right to Education, has affected children belonging to minority communities and whether there has been a gap,” as said by Priyank Kanoongo who is the NCPCR Chairperson.

“We have looked at minority institutions per se and madrasas in particular. We have some startling findings, including that 74 per cent of students studying in Christian missionary schools do not belong to the minority community,” he adds.

“Many schools, we know, have registered as minority institutions, simply because they don’t have to implement RTE. But can Article 30, which ensures the right of minorities to open their own institutions for cultural linguistic and religious protection, contravene what is in Article 21(A) which protects a child’s fundamental right to education. Surely Article 21 (A) must prevail,’’ says Kanoongo.

“This exemption needs to be reviewed,” he said, adding that it deprives education in these institutions to underprivileged children from minority communities. “Through the report, the Commission has recommended to the government that Right to Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan be extended to all minority schools, including madrasas.”

According to the report of NCPCR, only 8.76 per cent students studying in the minority schools come from a background which is economically and socially disadvantaged. “Since minority schools are outside the purview of the RTE Act, there is no compulsion to admit students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” it states.

Giving a religion-wise breakup of the schools, the report says that while Christians comprise 11.54 per cent of India’s minority population, they run 71.96 per cent schools, and Muslims with 69.18 per cent minority population run 22.75 per cent of the schools.

According to the report Sikhs are 9.78 percent of the minority based population and operate 1.54 percent of the schools; Buddhists are 3.83 percent minority based population operating 0.48 per cent of the schools; and Jains are 1.9 percent of the minority based population operating 1.56 percent of such schools.

As the report says that there are 3 types of madrasas running in the country –

Recognised madrasas- Registered and teach both religious and secular education

Unrecognised madrasas- These are found ineligible for registration by the state governments as they are not providing secular education

Unmapped madrasas- Madarsas not willing to register

According to the report of NCPCR, the Sachar Committee, states that 4 per cent Muslim children (around 15.3 lakh) admitted in madrasas.

The NCPCR report states that the syllabus of madrasas are not uniform and ignores the world, thus students avoid the people from other religions. And madarsas also lack teachers.

The report revolves around the establishment of minority based education institutes which were a part of the colonial policy- divide and rule. “Minority schools established before 1947 can be traced to the Divide and Rule policy adopted by the Britishers under which they tried to divide people on the basis of economic, religious, social and political differences,” it says. “It was introduced by the 17th Viceroy when he gave provision of separate electorates to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims, thus promoting communal disharmony, as part of the Indian Councils Act 1909 (commonly called the Morley Minto Reforms).”

“Despite the large presence of minority students in school-going age groups, minority schools are catering to less than 8% of the minority children population. Hence, there is a need to lay down specific guidelines regarding the minimum percentage of students from the minority community to be admitted to the institution,” it states.

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