KOLHAPUR: The Maharashtra government has classified madrassas in Maharashtra as non-schools and has directed the district administrations to declare madrassa students as "out-of-school children".

A letter to this effect has been sent by Jayshree Mukherjee, principal secretary of the minority affairs department, to Nand Kumar, principal secretary, school education and sports department.

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The department of school education has planned a massive survey on July 4 to identify out-of-school children in the state and bring them into mainstream education. State chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya had issued a detailed notification to this effect on May 20, but no mention of madrassas was made.

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Ironically, Mukherjee's letter came barely five days after the notification was issued. The letter mentions that though madrassas are not separately mentioned in the notification, students there should be considered "out of school".

When contacted by TOI, minister of state for minority affairs Dilip Kamble agreed with the contents of Mukherjee's letter. "My department has taken the decision. We want these children to take formal education. They must join mainstream education," he insisted.

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Kamble said that since the July 4 campaign was only a survey, the state government would not force madrassas to send their children to regular school. "The survey will help us know the exact number of children in the madrassas. We can then decide our next course of action," he said.

According to 2013 data published by the state directorate of minorities, there were 1,889 madrassas in the state imparting education to 1.48 lakh students. Students are admitted at the age of 10 and given a seven-year education in subjects including Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Maths and Science. After that, they can opt to continue with the madrassa and finish a post-graduation in five years.

Muslim leaders and those involved in running the madrassas were indignant over the state government's letter. "We were called by the government for a meeting on June 7 in which we were told that the survey would be conducted. However, it wasn't mentioned that madrassa students would be considered out of school. I am surprised that the government, which declares crores of rupees for the madrassas, can nullify their existence in education," said Gani Ajarekar, president of Muslim Boarding Kolhapur, an institute that celebrates its centenary next year.

Kolhpaur has as many as 13 madrassas in which around 1,800 children are enrolled. Aslam Sayyad, head of the oldest madrassa in Shiroli, which was established in 1952, claimed that the institutions offer formal education as well.

"Less than 1% Muslim children enroll in madrassas. We require such education for the religious requirements of our community. Many of our students have gone on to achieve success in various fields, ranging from government service to education. Considering these children out of school is wrong. We will not accept it," Sayyad said.

"Madrassas give religious education and many students from madrassas have later studied at secular institutions and went on to crack civil services exam. They should not be considered out of school," said Congress MLA Amin Patel who added that he would register protest with the government. Maulana Athar Ali, general secretary of Mohammed Ali Road-based Madrassa Darul Uloom Mohammadiya said: "I was in the meeting called by the state government officials to discuss the campaign and had suggested that madrass students be considered "in school children". These institutions don't impart modern education, but are certainly educational institutions."

In September 2013, the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in the state had announced scholarships for the students of 200 madrassas who wished to continue with mainstream education. Accordingly, 600 students joining classes 9 and 10 were offered an annual scholarship of Rs 4,000 each, while those joining classes 11 and 12 were offered Rs 5,000 each.

Maharashtra's Muslim population

- 30% Muslims in Parbhani and Nanded districts

- 42.5% in Malegaon, 35.8% in Bhiwandi

- Tehsil-wise, Shrivardhan in Raigad district has the highest percentage of Muslims at 20.26

- In Vidarbha, Akola, Yavatmal and Amravati, Muslims constitute 8.3% of the population

(Source: Socio-Economic Profile of Muslims: A State Profile of Maharashtra; March 2013, Department of Economics, SNDT Women's University, Mumbai)

