The NCPCR survey report states that religiously minority Christians constitute only 11.54 percent of the population in the country, while 71.96 percent of the total schools in religious minority schools are convents or Christian missionary schools. At the same time, Muslims constitute only 22.75 percent of the minority community, which includes madrasas.
Many big revelations have been made in the nationwide survey conducted by the National Commission for Rights and Protection of Child (NCPCR) regarding the National Right to Education Act (RTE). They have kept madrasas out of the RTE Act. These schools have been opened so that the children of the minority community can study in these schools, but in the commission’s survey, they have revealed that most of the children of the majority class are studying in these schools.
Key points of the report:
Minority Schools Catering to the Non-Minorities: Overall, 62.5% of the students in these schools were from non-minority communities.
Only 8.76 percent of students in minority schools are from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Disproportionate numbers: 92.47 percent of the minority population in West Bengal is Muslim and 2.47% Christian. In contrast, there are 114 Christian minority schools and only two schools with Muslim minority status.
Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh, although the Christian population is less than 1%, there are 197 Christian minority schools in the state.
This disparity takes away the basic purpose of establishing minority educational institutions.
Non-uniformity among madrasas: they found that the largest number (11 million) of out-of-school children were from the Muslim community.
It has come to the fore that these schools are taking a lot of benefit from the central government in the name of minority schools. Coming to the percentage of the country as a whole, NCPCR has found that 62.5% of the students in minority schools are from non-minority communities. The NCPCR, after conducting a nationwide assessment of minority schools, has recommended the government to bring all such schools, including madrassas, under the purview of the Right to Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
The NCPCR has also supported reservations for students from minority communities in such schools. This has been done because its survey has found a large proportion of non-minority students studying there. While Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, and Jain communities are also included, in all schools opened on the basis of the religious minority, 62.50 percent of the total students are studying from non-minority communities.
The report further states that religiously minority Christians make up only 11.54 percent of the population in the country, whereas, with schools, 71.96 percent of the total schools belong to these schools which are known as convents or Christian missionaries. In the case of Muslims, schools belonging to Muslim communities, including madrasas, constitute only 22.75 percent of the total schools in the country. At the same time, only 20.29 percent of the children of the majority class study in these schools, which is the lowest of the majority category. The rest are from the Muslim community.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights:
NCPCR has been constituted in March 2007 as a statutory body under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The mandate of the Commission ensures that all laws, policies, programs, and administrative mechanisms are in conformity with the provisions of the Rights of the Child enshrined in the Constitution of India and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It investigates complaints related to the right to free and compulsory education for a child under the Right to Education Act, 2009.
It oversees the implementation of protecting Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 [Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012].
