NEW DELHI: Questioning the kind of education imparted in madrassas and also the way of their functioning, including permitting corporal punishment for children, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has told Supreme Court that comprehensive education is not provided there and it is against the provisions of Right to Education (RTE) Act.
Responding to an appeal filed against an Allahabad HC order which had struck down the ‘Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act‘, the commission said even teachers there are not qualified enough to impart education and the Act, instead of being an enabling tool, becomes a depriving tool for the children studying there.It said such institutes are also providing Islamic education to non-Muslims which is violative of the Constitution provision.
“… the denial to extend RTE to children by these institutions with minority status not just deprives the children of their most important fundamental right to education but this exclusion/denial of these children snowballs into depriving them of their fundamental Right to Equality before law (Article 14); prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15(1)); that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39 (f)),” it said, adding madrassas do not have any provisions regarding various facilities and entitlements provided under RTE. “A madrassa is not only an unsuitable/unfit place to receive ‘proper’ education but also in absence of entitlements as provided under Section 19, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 of RTE Act,” it said .
Responding to an appeal filed against an Allahabad HC order which had struck down the ‘Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act‘, the commission said even teachers there are not qualified enough to impart education and the Act, instead of being an enabling tool, becomes a depriving tool for the children studying there.It said such institutes are also providing Islamic education to non-Muslims which is violative of the Constitution provision.
“… the denial to extend RTE to children by these institutions with minority status not just deprives the children of their most important fundamental right to education but this exclusion/denial of these children snowballs into depriving them of their fundamental Right to Equality before law (Article 14); prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15(1)); that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39 (f)),” it said, adding madrassas do not have any provisions regarding various facilities and entitlements provided under RTE. “A madrassa is not only an unsuitable/unfit place to receive ‘proper’ education but also in absence of entitlements as provided under Section 19, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 of RTE Act,” it said .