New Delhi: Wary about the fact that there is no data available on the number of children studying in unrecognized madarsas and missionary schools, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought a "mapping of these centers of learning".
The recommendation has been made to the Human Resource Development Ministry. The commission, which is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, has made nine suggestions to the HRD ministry ahead of a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on Monday and Tuesday.
The commission has suggested that there should be some deliberation to ensure that kids studying in these institutes get the benefit of Article 21 (A), which provides the right to education, while keeping Article (30) of the Constitution in mind. Article 30 gives minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions.
"We have proposed to the government that a sub-committee should be constituted to bring about the mapping of the unrecognized schools run by the minorities – Muslims and Christians. There is no data on their numbers and if they have the access to fundamental education which is enshrined in our constitution. On one hand there is Article 21 A and on the other Article 30. Benefits of both have to reach them," said the source from NCPCR.
He added, "Mapping is the first step of mainstreaming, by that we mean, it is one way to know if they have access to fundamental education as given in the constitution. As of now their status is neither in-school nor out-of-school."
Among other suggestions the Commission wants the CABE members to discuss the menace of unregulated coaching centers. "There is no point denying their existence," the official said adding that other suggestions included regulation of fees in private schools and checking of bag weight, which has earlier also been raised by the MPs in the past.
It also suggested that the government should form a sub-committee to study the impact of exemptions enjoyed by the minority schools under the RTE. The minority schools enjoy immunity from offering 25% reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections of the society.
The point was proposed for review in the draft National Education Policy 2016 by TSR Subramanian. "The issue of extension of Clause 12 (1) (c) of RTE Act to minority institutions needs a review. The Committee feels that the larger national obligations to meet the rights of economic weaker sections should extend to all institutions including minority (religious and linguistic) institutions," the Subramanian committee had recommended.
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