New Delhi: Priyank Kanoongo, NCPCR Chairperson whose recent comments had sparked outrage, on his last day in office Wednesday clarified that he never called for closure of Madrassas.
In an interview with news agency PTI, the Chairman of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights said he only recommended to the states and UTs to stop funding the madrassas.
“I recommended state funding to these institutions be stopped as they are depriving poor Muslim children of education”, he said.
He said that Muslim children from improverished backgrounds are often pressured into religious schooling over secular education.
“We advocate for equitable educational opportunities for all children”, he said as he demits office on Wednesday.
Madrassas in India are actually Islamic schools run by Muslim NGOs. According to a Ministry of Minority Affairs report, in 2018-19, India had 24,010 madrasas.
Sachar Committee in its report in 2006 had found about 4% children from the Muslim community are getting education in madrassas.
Originally established to impart subjects related to Islam, the Madrassas in India, and also in other countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, have evolved integrating modern curriculum.
The Madrasa Education System in India has been occasionally under fire, mainly by right wings. In a recent report, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) too had raised "concerns" about the state of functioning in madrassas, calling for stopping the state funding unless they comply with the Right to Education Act.
Kanoongo now clarified that he never called for the closure of the madrassas.
"We never advocated for the closure of madrasas. Our stance is that while affluent families invest in religious and regular education, even children from impoverished backgrounds should be imparted that," he stated.
Those critical of Madrassas, however, fail to acknowledge, that these Islamic seminaries are also located in remote areas of India where the state has not been able to establish a school.
And, in such schools many non-Muslims too are getting education. There are also a good number of non-Muslims who after graduating from Madrassas, are currently working on plum posts in Middle East and western countries.
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