New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench on Monday (October 21) restrained the Union Government and the States from withdrawing recognition of Madrassas which are not compliant to Right to Education Act 2009. The ruling said that the government should not act upon the communications issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to withdraw the recognition of Madrassas which are not compliant with the RTE. Fruther, it ordered the government to conduct an inspection of all Madrassas.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrahcud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the interim order hearing a writ petition filed by Islamic clerics’ body Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind challenging the NCPCR’s action.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court specified that the NCPCR’s communications issued on June 7 and June 25 of this year should not be implemented. The court also indicated that any related orders from the states would similarly remain on hold.
Furthermore, the court allowed the Muslim organisation to include additional states, beyond Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, as parties to its petition.
NCPCR’s Argument On Madrassas
The NCPCR contended that madrassas, which utilize a limited selection of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks, do not guarantee a formal and high-quality education for their students.
It also highlighted that children enrolled in madrassas miss out on important entitlements, such as midday meals, uniforms, and other fundamental rights mandated by the RTE Act.
On June 25, 2024, the NCPR wrote to the Secretary, Department of Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India to issue directions to all States/UTs to conduct inspections of the existing Madrasas with the UDISE Code. The recognition and UDISE Code of Madrassa that do not comply with the norms under the RTE Act, 2009 was sought to be withdrawn with immediate effect. The NCPCR also requested the Union to not extend the UDISE system to Madrasas. A separate category of UDIE may be created to capture information about all Madrasas including recognised , unrecognised and unmapped, the NCPCR recommended the Union.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates