NCPCR suggests stopping govt funding for madrasas

The recommendations came as part of a report, titled “Guardians of Faith or Oppressors of Rights: Constitutional Rights of Children vs. Madrasas”, prepared by the child rights panel which consists of 11 chapters on the history of Madrasas and “their role in violation of educational rights of children”.

Following the release of the report, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo wrote a letter to all Chief Secretaries of states and Union Territories, saying, “The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, is grounded in the belief that achieving values such as equality, social justice, and democracy is only possible through the provision of inclusive education for all. However, a conflicting picture between fundamental right of children and right of minority communities has been created.”

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“In this regard, Commission has prepared a report titled Guardians of Faith or Oppressors of Rights: Constitutional Rights of Children vs. Madrasas. The report consists of 11 chapters touching upon different aspects of the history of Madrasas and their role in violation of educational rights of children. It is the duty of the State Governments to ensure that all children receive formal education in schools which are duly defined under Section 2(n) of the RTE Act, 2009,” it said.

The Commission asserted that merely constituting a Board or taking a UDISE Code does not mean that the Madrasas are following the provisions of RTE Act, 2009.

“Therefore, it has been recommended that State funding to the Madrasas and Madrasa Boards be stopped across all States/UTs and Madrasa Boards should be discontinued and closed down. This is subject to the Judgment of the Supreme Court on SLP (Civil) No. 008541 of 2024 in case of Uttar Pradesh,” the Commission said in its report.

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“It has also been recommended that all non-Muslim children be taken out of Madrasas and admitted in schools for receiving fundamental education as per the RTE Act, 2009. Also, children from Muslim community who are attending Madrasa, whether recognized or unrecognized, are enrolled in formal schools and received education of the prescribed time and curriculum as per the RTE Act, 2009,” NCPCR said.

Data from UDISE 2021-22 indicated that approximately 12 million Muslim children do not receive formal education. The report identified a lack of accountability in many madrasas, citing concerns over infrastructure and reports of child rights violations.

The recommendations drew criticism from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who said: “This country belongs to everyone — the Constitution gives us the rights. They (BJP) want to change that. They are the people who want to do politics over hatred, by creating conflicts between castes, religions. But they won’t succeed; the people of the country, intellectuals of the society now understand that the discriminatory politics of the BJP won’t go long.”

Last month, NCPCR made a similar submission to the Supreme Court urging the apex court to integrate the madrasas into formal education system.

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