New Delhi: Exempting madrasas from the ambit of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 does not take away the constitutional protection guaranteed by the same law to children studying in these institutions. Since madrasas are unable to provide comprehensive education to children, as envisaged under the RTE, their operation is in violation of the law, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has told the Supreme Court.
In its written submission filed before the top court Wednesday, the central statutory body that works in the field of children rights said owing to its inability to provide entitlements for students under RTE, a madrasa is an “unsuitable” and “unfit” place to receive proper education. Therefore, it cannot be funded by the state which, according to the RTE, can only provide expenses to an educational institution that has a holistic environment and is not devoid of a basic curriculum.
NCPCR made these submissions to back its stand in support of the Allahabad High Court judgment on 22 March that declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 (UPBMEA) unconstitutional. Before this, the state law allowed government funding for madrasas operating in Uttar Pradesh.
The Allahabad High Court had ordered the state to accommodate students studying in all the madrasas of Uttar Pradesh in other schools. The Teachers Association, Madaris Arabiya, Kanpur filed an appeal in the apex court against the High Court decision.
Though NCPCR was not an official respondent in the case, it filed an intervention application, urging the apex court to hear the body before deciding on the appeal.
The Commission acknowledged that a 2012 amendment took madrasas out of the RTE’s purview, something which was also upheld by the Supreme Court two years later. However, the children studying in these institutions have not lost their right to education by virtue of this development, NCPCR asserted.
According to it, children are beneficiaries of Article 15 of the Indian Constitution, which ensures equality for all citizens. Hence, the RTE, which mandates free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14, is a right that should be available to all children, notwithstanding their religious background, including those who are studying in madrasas.
As for the 2014 Supreme Court judgment which upheld the 2012 amendment that took madrasas out of the RTE’s purview, the NCPCR said the decision was based merely on the rights of educational institutions such as madrasas, and dealt with the issue of whether states can direct them to admit economically weaker section (EWS) children for imparting education.
The judgment, the NCPCR said, did not deal with the rights of a child to receive conventional elementary education under Article 21A, which provides for compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14 years.
Defending the Allahabad High Court ruling that struck down the UPBMEA, the Commission said the fundamental notion of education in the outlawed statute does not correspond to the requirements of Indian education.
“It is important to emphasize that religious education serves as the foundation of Madrasa education and that, in the absence of fundamental education, Madrasas are depriving children from their fundamental right,” the NCPCR stated in its submissions.
Although the UPBMEA provides a separate curriculum, it does not in any way take into account the basics of the RTE law. Additionally, the UPBMEA curriculum prescribes an intrinsically Islamic course and curriculum, the NCPCR has complained.
As for a state’s role outlined in the RTE, the NCPCR said the law makes it compulsory for the state to make all possible efforts to provide education to children in schools, defined under the Central law.
“It is pertinent to mention here that the Commission has highlighted that all those children who are not in formal schooling system are deprived of their fundamental right to elementary education including the entitlements such as Midday Meal, uniform, trained teachers etc. and since Madrasas are exempted from the purview of the RTE Act, 2009, all children studying in the Madrasas are deprived of not only formal education in schools but also benefits as provided under RTE Act, 2009,” the Commission’s submissions noted.
Institutions that are ‘depriving tool’ for kids must not derive govt benefits: NCPCR
Therefore, such institutions which, instead of an enabling tool, become a depriving tool for children studying in them, should not derive government benefits, the NCPCR said. The RTE, it added, prescribes regulations regarding minimum physical infrastructure, staff and facilities that all schools are required to provide. It also provides guidelines on educational benefits such as the requirement for students to be taught in age-appropriate classes; for students that are out-of-school to be placed in a special training center before enrolment in schools; barring schools from charging capitation fee or using screening procedure in admission; and prohibit corporal punishment, among other rules.
However, none of the above prescriptions can be found in madrasas which, in violation of the Constitution, also provide Islamic Religious Education to non-muslims.
“That it is most respectfully submitted that from the aforementioned issues of curriculum, teacher eligibility, non-transparency/funding, and violations of the law of land, the Madrasa also fails to provide holistic environment to the children,” the NCPCR said, contending that majority of madrasas do not have any idea as to how to plan social events or extracurricular activities to enable assimilation of their students in the national mainstream education system.
The NCPCR also commented on objectionable content in the books taught in madrasas.
“It is humbly submitted that on perusal of the Diniyat books as available on the website, it has been observed that as per the prescribed curriculum, the Madrasa Board through the books, are teaching texts that professes about Supremacy of Islam. In this regard, it is humbly submitted that as per the information made available to the Commission by the States, it has been informed that children practicing religion other than Islam are also studying in Madrasas in the State of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, & Uttarakhand,” the NCPCR wrote.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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