New Delhi. The Supreme Court has put a stay on the recommendations of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to close madrassas and end their government funding. NCPCR, citing the Right to Education Act, had said that children studying in madrassas do not get formal education due to which their education remains incomplete, hence madrassas should be closed and children should be enrolled in government schools. Following these recommendations of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairman Priyank Kanungo, protests by Madrassa Board and Muslim organizations had started. Now the next hearing will be held in the Supreme Court after four weeks.
The bench of Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra gave this order while hearing the petition filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had challenged the NCPCR’s recommendation as well as the UP government’s order, which directs admission of children studying in unrecognized madrassas in government schools. The Supreme Court bench has also put a stay on this instruction of the UP government.
NCPCR President Priyank Kanungo had recently written a letter to the Central and State Governments. In this letter he had said that madrassas are providing religious education to poor Muslim children but are depriving them of formal education. Muslim children from poor backgrounds are being forced to undergo religious education instead of secular education. Priyanka said that just as children from affluent Muslim families are given regular education in religious as well as regular schools, similarly poor children should also get equal educational opportunities so that they too can make a better place for themselves in the society in the future. Can.
