Supreme Court keeps alive regularising of gurukuls, Vedic schools

Among the school going population in the country, 28 per cent are in the age group of 0-14 years and roughly five per cent of this age group undergo non-formal training in madrasas, maktabahs and gurukuls where standards of teaching are poor and degrees offered have no recognition.

An effort to integrate close to 30,000 registered madrasas, 2000 maktabahs, and an equal number of gurukuls and Vedic schools within a uniform regulatory framework came about last week when a PIL by two social activists based out of West Bengal was heard in the Supreme Court. Although the apex court refused to entertain the petition, see the force in the argument that such a step would secure the future of students passing out from these institutions, the bench kept the issue alive by allowing the petitioners to approach the High Court instead.

The order by a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta has ensured that the debate on the issue will continue unabated. However, the subject requires a closer look on what stops the madrasas and gurukuls to come under a uniform regulatory framework such as a Central Madrasa Board or a Central Gurukul Board.

Islamic scholars suggest that it's never too late for reforms but results of integrating with the regulatory framework have not been fruitful in the past. But for reforms to happen, an environment of trust needs to be built which can only happen if the stakeholders in the decision-making process involve persons of repute from the Muslim community who command their trust and confidence.

According to Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies, in the present time, reform, even if well-intentioned, will be seen with suspicion. "As per Rajinder Sachar Committee report in 2006, Muslims who study in madrasas constitute roughly four per cent. This figure may have marginally increased over the years. But why target this section, when the remaining 96 per cent population too are crying for reforms."

On the point of integrating madrasas under a Central Madrasa Board, Alam said, "There is a large number of madrasas who have chosen not to register with the state boards." At present, there are Madrasa Boards in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Assam, and Bihar. Citing the example of Bihar Madrasa Board, Alam said, "Experience has shown that those madrasas which registered with the Board have witnessed fall in education standards, delayed payment of salaries, and increased corruption. Unregistered madrasas, though have no modern amenities, offer a better quality of studies and less scope for corruption."

Advocate Vidhan Vyas who argued for the PIL petitioners in Supreme Court said that even for gurukuls and Vedic schools, there is no data available with the Central governments. In August 2016, the Central government informed Parliament that in the past four years, almost Rs 1000 crore was spent on modernization of madrasas. Vyas said, "There can be accountability of the money spent only when all non-formal education is brought under a uniform regulatory framework."