Almost 90% of underprivileged Muslim children attend madrassas. However, devoid of a modern curriculum, madrassas are unable to equip these students for the contemporary job market.
This in turn limits their economic opportunities. By bringing madrassas under the provisions of the RTE Act, the Islamic seminaries will be forced to submit to universal standards and modernise.
As highlighted by the Sachar committee report, Muslims in India comprise one of the most socio-economically backward communities in the country. Exemplifying this is the fact that even though Muslims constitute 14% of the country’s population they occupy only 2.5% of total jobs in the bureaucracy. For Muslims to have a proportional stake in India’s growth story, it is important to ensure quality modern education to Muslim youths. Most madrassas are run by the religious orthodoxy averse to reforms. The massive opposition to Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi’s appointment as vice-chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband is a case in point. Vastanvi had promised to introduce modern subjects of study at the seminary but was eventually deemed as too progressive.
In such a scenario, the RTE Act with its stringent parameters for certifying institutes of learning will not only ensure quality education but also mitigate the parochial outlook madrassas breed. It will allow millions of Muslim students to attain recognised degrees and break free from the cycle of poverty. The RTE Act was proposed with the aim of universalising access to education. It must include madrassas if it is to live up to that ideal.