Maharashtra government to derecognize Madrasas

Maharashtra government decided on Thursday to derecognize madrasas that give education to students only on religion but not providing formal education. This controversial move received criticism by Muslim leaders and the opposition parties of the state.

According to Eknath Khadse, Maharashtra minorities’ affairs minister, madrasas are providing children education on religion, but not giving them formal education which is a fundamental right as per our Constitution.

He added that neither a Hindu nor a Christian child is not permitted to study in madrasa even if he wants to study there. Thus, madrasas remains a home for religious education. So, the government asked madrasas to teach students normal subjects like English, Mathematics in addition to religious education. Otherwise, they will not be treated as schools.

A survey is planned to take on formal education on July 4 and the students who are studying in madrasas but not getting formal education will be considered as outside the school students. The government says its aim is to safeguard the fundamental rights of children and to ensure every child from the minority community gets a formal education for a successful future. For this, they are willing to pay madrasas for giving formal education and arranging teaching staff. Out of 1,890 registered madrasas in Maharashtra, only 550 have come forward to teach four subjects to their students.

Image Credit: Athar Ali Falahi / CC BY-SA 4.0

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Students_of_Madrasa_of_Nepal.jpg