Madrassas ‘unfit’ for children to receive proper education: NCPCR tells Apex Court

New Delhi: Madrassas are “unsuitable” places for children to receive “proper education” and the education imparted there is “not comprehensive” and is against the provisions of the Right to Education Act, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has told the Supreme Court.

The child rights body told the top court that children, who are not in the formal schooling system, are deprived of their fundamental right to elementary education, including entitlements such as midday meal, uniform, etc.

The NCPCR said madrassas merely teaching from a few NCERT books in the curriculum is a “mere guise” in the name of imparting education and does not ensure that the children are receiving formal and quality education.

“A madrassa is not only an unsuitable/unfit place to receive ‘proper’ education but also in absence of entitlements as provided under Sections 19, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 of the RTE Act,” it said.

“Further, madrassas do not only render an unsatisfactory and insufficient model for education but also have an arbitrary mode of working which is wholly in absence of a standardised curriculum and functioning,” the NCPCR said in its written submissions.

The child rights body stated that due to the absence of provisions of the RTE Act, 2009, the madrassas are also deprived of entitlement as in the Section 21 of the Act of 2009.

“A madrassa works in an arbitrary manner and runs in an overall violation of the Constitutional mandate, RTE Act and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. It cannot be overlooked that a child getting education in such an Institution will be devoid of basic knowledge of school curriculum which is provided in a school. A school is defined under Section 2(n) of the RTE Act, 2009, which means any recognised school imparting elementary education. A madrassa being out of this definition has no right to compel children or their families to receive madrassa education,” the NCPCR said.

It said most of the madrassas fail to provide a holistic environment to students, including planning social events, or extracurricular activities for ‘experiential learning. In a breather to about 17 lakh madrassa students, the Apex Court on April 5 had stayed an order of the Allahabad High Court that scrapped the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 calling it “unconstitutional” and violative of the principle of secularism.

Observing that the issues raised in the petitions merit closer reflection, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had issued notices to the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and others on the pleas against the high court order. The top court said the high court “prima facie” misconstrued the provisions of the Act, which does not provide for any religious instruction. Agencies