BANGALORE: The obstacles in enforcing the Right to Education Act (RTE) seem unending. Just when things were beginning to fall into place a new row has broken out over the state government’s decision to give the minority tag under RTE only to educational institutions which admit 75 per cent of their students from the community concerned. With their hopes of escaping the RTE’s diktat on reserving 25 per cent of seats in elite schools for underpriveleged children dashed, several schools have voiced strong opposition to such a definition of minority institutes claiming it is a threat to their constitutional rights.

Chairman of the Minority Institutes Association, Gulshed Ahmed, says that till now all schools which made 50 per cent admissions from a religious or linguistic minority community were given minority status and there is no reason why this should not continue. But education officers contend that in reality schools and colleges which enjoy the minority tag today do not fulfill any of the criteria laid down. “Generally all schools and colleges started and run by people from minority communities are treated as minority institutes. Many institutes in the city claim this status without government approval and raise the issue only when it tries to take any decision on reserving seats for poor students or on their fee structure,” says a senior officer.

Experts feel that government should, in fact, extend the 75 per cent admission formula to higher education institutes as well to stop them from playing the minority card. Academic Dr.K V Shenoy says the government should provide all facilities and concessions due to minority institutes only if they give enough seats to students from their own communities. “Presently, most minority institutes unfairly get the tag in the name of poor students from their communities without really making any provision for them,” he says.

The misuse is sometimes blatant, according to education officers. “This year one medical college in Shimoga surrendered only 27 per cent of its seats to the government saying it was a minority institute, when it had just applied for minority status,” he recalls.

Unequal treatment for unequals

To bring groups of people who are ‘linguistically, scripturally and culturally different from the rest and are identifiable” into mainstream society the Constitution encourages minorities to set up educational institutes and promote their language and culture. These rights guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 have been deemed absolute by the Supreme Court and minority institutes also enjoy a degree of autonomy in managing their own affairs.

So when the state government defined minority schools as those with a 75 per cent student body from the said community, it caused an uproar. The 75 per cent mark would be impossible to achieve, said those managing these institutes.

“Till now the percentage of a particular minority in an area was taken into account. If that was 10 per cent, a school with 50 per cent that number was deemed a minority institution,” says Mr Gulshed Ahmed, chairman of the Minority Institutes’Association. “We have discussed this with the education minister already and have been asked to present an appeal, which we will do next week. If nothing comes of it, we will go to court,” he warns.

Ms Nooraine of Inventure Academy, says the state government’s new definition appears to means that a Muslim starting a school should run it only for other Muslims. When there is already enough unrest among communities, this will only stoke the fire, in her opinion. “I want a unified India. I studied in Christian institutions all my life, went for Bible study every day and for scripture. People perceive Christianity positively because so many of us have studied in these institutions,” she points out, making a strong case for more plurality in schools “The only thing we can do is protest. May be we will get somewhere because the pressure is so high on the government. Right now, there is nothing we can do but wait” says Dr Joshua Samuel, principal, Baldwins Methodist College.

Deccan Chronicle, 24 July 2012

BANGALORE: Unaided minority schools in Karnataka will not enjoy automatic exemption from giving 25 per cent of the total seats, under the Right to Education Act, to students from economically and socially weaker (ESW) sections without charging any fee.

In a contentious move on Friday, the State government decided that unaided minority schools in the State will have to offer 75 per cent of the total available seats to students from their respective communities to avail exemption from compulsorily giving 25 per cent seats to students from ESW sections under the RTE Act.

The unaided minority institutions not offering 75 per cent of the seats to children from their respective communities will, therefore, have to set aside 25 per cent of the seats for free education to students from ESW sections.

Briefing the media on a decision taken in this regard at a meeting of the State Cabinet during the day, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri said the Supreme Court had defined that ‘minority institutions’ should have a “handful” or “sprinkling” of non-minority students, while the remaining students should belong to minority categories concerned.

The minister said since the apex court had not indicated any percentage of enrollment for minority communities in unaided minority institutions, it was left to the State governments to define this. Kageri also indicated that this new definition will be applicable from next year. “Admission processes have already been completed. It would be difficult to enforce it (the decision) this year,” he said.

However, the decision is bo¬u¬nd to be challenged by unaided minority schools on the ground that the April 12, 2012 judgment of the apex co¬u¬rt had categorically exempted th¬em from the RTE Act’s purview. The judgment had held that the Fundamental Rights enjoyed by minority institutions under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution were absolute, and not subject to any reasonable restrictions. The apex court judgment stated that “Sections 12(1) (C) and 18 (3) (of the RTE Act) infringes fundamental freedom guaranteed to unaided minority schools under Article 31(1) (of the Constitution) and, consequently ……. the said 2009 (RTE) Act shall not apply to such schools”.

Why 75%?

Kageri did not explain the logic behind fixing the 75 per cent ceiling for the exemption. Official said that it would have been better if it was 50 per cent, the ceiling apparently followed in Tamil Nadu for many years.

But, the Supreme Court judgment has not specified that in a minority school, the student population should be a minimum of 75 per cent or any other percentage.

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004, defined those who can run minority institutions. But it is silent on the composition of the student population in these institutions.

In the year 2000, the State government issued a circular stating the management of a minority school should predominantly consist of minorities. In 2006, an amendment to the circular was issued, saying that the reservation for minority students in minority institutions should be proportional to the population of the concerned minority community in area where the institution operates.

After the Supreme Court ruled that RTE should be implemented from this year onwards, the state education department had favoured a 50 per cent quota for minorities to enjoy the minority institution status.

However, going by the Supreme Court’s RTE judgment, there are question marks if these stipulations would hold ground. The judgment pointed out that legal and constitutional position in this regard stood changed in the wake of an amendment to Article 15 of the Constitution in 2005 by way of the insertion of clause 15(5). The judgment concluded that the new provision provided special protection to unaided minority schools.

Following Kageri’s announcement, official sources told Deccan Herald that a government order defining the ‘minority’ for the RTE Act implementation would be issued in a couple of days. However, the order may be only applicable to new schools to be set up and not to the existing ones.

Deccan Herald, 06 July 2012

BANGALORE: Right to education is set to go to be taken to courts again. Miffed at the Karnataka cabinet’s definition of minority schools, the Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federations has decided to move the Karnataka High Court.

The cabinet had on Friday decided that a minority institution/school should have 75% of its children from the community to get that tag, and to exempt itself from implementing the 25% quota for poor children.

“We are awaiting the notification. As soon as we receive it, we will file a writ petition in the high court as the government’s decision is against various Supreme Court judgments on minority status,” said CR Mohammed Imitiaz, chairman of the federation.

Apart from minorities school bodies, individual institutions are also getting ready to battle it out in the court against the Karnataka government’s definition of a minority institution.

“We are planning to file a contempt case against the minister for primary and secondary education in the Supreme Court as the government has still not implemented the RTE Act as ordered by it,” said CR Mohammed Imitiaz, chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federations.

The federation says the Supreme Court had, in an April 12 ruling, exempted all minority institutions as it infringes on the fundamental freedom given to them under Article 31 of the Constitution. Besides, there are court orders on who a minority is, which they argue, the minister is violating.

“The court has said the constitution of management determines the minority status of the institution. It has also said that yardstick should be the state’s population when the minority status is to be determined. All these are being violated. There are several such cases on minority status of institutions that have come up in the past and have gone in favour of the institutions. One such case was Model Education Society of Bangalore vs government of Karnataka. We believe that we will get justice ,” said Mohammed.

However, there are others who feel the government’s notification can still hold good as the order could be for the purpose of RTE alone. The state, they say, is well within its powers to define what a minority school is.

DEMANDS NOT MET: KUSMA

Unmindful of the arguments and counter-arguments regarding minority status, the Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association (Kusma) will go ahead with its proposed school shutdown from July 16 as there more issues than just the definition of minority.

“The decision of the cabinet still does not answer the more pressing question: how to define a minority? Is a Tulu speaker a linguistic minority ? Is a converted Christian or Buddhist a religious minority? What documents or proof should a Muslim or a Christian produce to prove his case? Who is the authority to grant such certificates? To dozens of such pressing questions, there are still no answers,” says Kusma lawyer KV Dhananjay.

“A law is urgently required. Only the legislature can make such a law. But… the Karnataka legislature may pass the burden by passing a resolution requesting Parliament to make a law to define minorities for the purpose of RTE Act,” Dhananjay says.

IF THE KARNATAKA FORMULA WORKS

If Kageri’s ‘minority formula’ works, the schools which do not comply with the rule will lose their immunity and will have to accommodate 25% children, though classes have already commenced. Otherwise, they will have to ensure that the children should be from their own community and make way only for them. But by the minister’s own admission, it would be difficult for the government to implement the RTE quota this year.

The Times of India, 08 July 2012

BANGALORE: Even as the implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE) may be under way, some associations representing private schools are still unclear about certain aspects as far as implementation of the Act is concerned. A confusion is the definition of minority institutions.

“We wrote to the State government on April 30, asking that the word ‘minority’ should be defined when they exempted minority institutions from the purview of the Act. We got a reply on May 7 saying that it will be discussed; but we have received no information since then,” said K.V. Dhananjay, advocate for the Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA).

Explaining that the association had both minority as well as majority institutions, Mr. Dhananjay said that this would help them know which schools fall under the minority category.

‘PRESSURE’

Sudi Suresh, Secretary, Karnataka State Private School Management Federation, said that various member-school managements were constantly being pressured to accept applications coming in after May 25, despite it being the last day to accept applications. “Member-schools have accepted applications till the last date of May 25 and students have availed themselves of seats as well,” he said.

However, Block Education Officer (BEO), North Range 1, Gopalakrishna, maintained that no management had complained about receiving late applications.

“If we receive complaints, it shall be discussed with the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI).
“Action will be taken against managements who refuse to accept children who applied before the last date,” he pointed out.

KUSMA has called a meeting of its members on Sunday. “The 1,800 members of the association have unanimously decided that they will do as suggested by KUSMA but the final decision will be taken by the managements,” said Mr. Dhananjay.
Mr. Suresh also said that members of the Karnataka State Private School Management Federation will meet Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri next week to discuss the issues that need to be resolved.

The Hindu, 24 June 2012

HUBLI: Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has said that confusion over seat reservation in minority educational institutions would be cleared by the State government shortly.
Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, Mr. Kageri admitted that despite the Supreme Court order on exempting minority institutions from reserving 25 per cent seats for disadvantaged children, there was still confusion over which are the minority institutions to be exempted from the purview of the Right To Education Act.
“We are aware of the confusion and want to bring clarity to the issue. We have consulted legal experts, keeping in mind the apex court order. We will shortly come out with a clear stand on the issue,” Mr. Kageri said.
He clarified that there was no truth in allegations made by some schools that they had not received the official order of the government on the implementation of the RTE Act. All educational institutions have been sent the Government Order, he said.
GLITCHES INEVITABLE
He, however, admitted that since it was the first year of the implementation of the Act, confusion and delays were bound to happen. “Since it is the first year of the implementation, we don’t’ want to be in conflict with institutions. Differences will be sorted out to streamline the implementation,” he said.
To a query, he clarified that the State government had announced the timetable for admission to schools so school managements should not deny admission saying that their admission process has been completed.
Mr. Kageri said that the State government was in the process of reorganisation of the high school education (including PU education) in a phased manner and a committee of experts had been constituted to advise the government on this. “We have extended the time given to the committee as it sought more time. The committee will also be consulting education experts,” he said.
NEW SYLLABI
The Minister said that the government was in the process of bringing the school education in the State under the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFE) and to begin with, new syllabi for class V and VIII and I PU Science are being introduced from this academic year. “The syllabi have been finalised and textbooks are available in the market. We are also initiating steps to prevent artificial scarcity of the books,” he said.
NOTIONAL INCREMENT
Mr. Kageri said that some candidates in the fray for the forthcoming Legislative Council elections in the State were trying to mislead the voters saying that the notional increment given to teachers would be withdrawn. “Let me clarify that there is no such proposal before the government, and no question of recovering the money from the teachers. In fact, the government will take all steps to sort out the issue,” he said.
He said textbooks and uniforms had been made available across the State, except in a few districts in Belgaum division, where the suppliers have sought 15 days to supply the consignment of uniforms.

The Hindu, 29 May 2012

BANGALORE: Who belongs to a minority? What does the law say about it as far as schools are concerned? When does the government plan to decode this term? These were some questions the Karnataka (recognized) Unaided Schools Management’s Association (KUSMA) asked the government on Monday.

The association demanded a deferral of the implementation of the Right to Education Act to the next academic year because the government hasn’t defined the term ‘minority’ yet.

The association, which has over 1,800 member schools, said if the government forced them to implement the Act, it will not be left with any other option but to shut down schools. KUSMA cited the example of a school having bilingual members on its board. The Constitution declares that a minority could be a religious or a linguistic one. This would lead to confusion whether a school is a minority one or not.

Soumya Ramesh, secretary, Gnanaganga Vidyapeeta , an unaided private school, and KUSMA member , said all they want is a clear demarcation of minority and non-minority institutions to ensure proper admissions.

Sibal against toons

Under attack over the cartoon row, HRD minister Kapil Sibal acknowledged that cartoons on politicians should not find a place in textbooks as they influence the impressionable minds of students.

Minority definition varies

BANGALORE : The 25% quota for the poor under the Right to Education (RTE)Actcould run into a roadblock with the Karnataka (recognized ) Unaided Schools Management’s Association (KUSMA ) demanding a clear definition of the term , minority . KUSMA , with 1,800 schools, says the defintion of the term , minority , is not uniform . Principal education secretary G Kumar Naiksaidthe governmentisworking on the definition of a minority .

A Mariyappa , secretary , KUSMA , said in Tumkur district , one school comprising members of a sub-division of the Veerashaiva sect has been treated as a minority whereas in Gulbarga , the same sect is a non-minority . In Mangalore district , Tulu Governing Council members have been denied minority status because the government says those talking in Tulu are deemed to be Kannada speakers . “This is utter arbitrariness ,” he said .

“In the absenceof a specific rule , some minority institutions could be deprivedof this status andwillbeinevitably exempted . The very purpose of free and compulsory education to every child is lost. RTE can’t be applied tillthe governmentoutlinesthebasic rule ,” he said . KUSMA believes that half of all private unaided schools in Karnataka could gain ‘minority’ status if the term is defined fairly

The Times of India, 15 May 2012

The district administration held a meeting with the representatives of aided and unaided schools with regard to implementation of Right to Education Act and to ensure adherence of admission rules laid down by the Department of Public Instruction, on Monday.

Presiding over the meeting Deputy Commissioner Dr N S Channappa Gowda said that the schools have been given circular with regard to schedule of admission, fees collection etc, on December 8, 2011, which should be followed strictly without fail.

However, opposing the circular the participants at the meet said that the formula provided by the Department based on which the admission fee can be collected is unscientific.

“We run schools facing several problems. We have to provide good infrastructure facilities to students, pay salary to teachers, maintain the school building and the premises. All this incurs huge expenses. The fees prescribed by the department is totally unscientific because with this calculation we will not even be able to meet the salary expenses of the teaching staff,” said Dakshina Kannada and Udupi English Medium Schools’ Association representative Mohommad Beary adding that running a school anyways is more of a social service because the proprietors do not get any returns.

He further said that though RTE has excluded minority institution from its purview, in the district there are many minority run institutions, which have not been recognised as minority institutions. He said that there is a need to give recognition to these institutions. The Deputy Commissioner said that a recommendation will be made to the Government in this regard.

Deccan Herald, 01 May 2012

Mohammed Imamuddin was the reason for the cancellation of his annual class picnic to Mumbai’s Water Kingdom amusement park. The 17-year-old stays and studies in central Mumbai’s Madrassa Jamia Qadriya Ashrafia while attending regular school at night. Since he is one of few such madrassa students, his teachers try to ensure that attending night school does not interfere with his religious education—they ruled that the idea of the amusement park was not right and since several of his madrassa classmates were also enrolled with regular schools, the trip was cancelled.

But Imamuddin, who has spent nine years in madrassas, says his options are not limited because the double education means that he could possibly study or work elsewhere. Around 3% of Muslims study at madrassas, where students could spend two to eight school-going years getting religious education. While many stay on to work as clerics, madrassa education opens up only few doors for these students to schools and colleges.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board opposes the Right To Education (RTE) Act, which makes education a fundamental right for children aged between 6 and 14. According to Muslim leaders, RTE conflicts with their constitutional right to give religious education and would lead to government interference in madrassas.

With Uttar Pradesh elections looming, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has assured the Board that RTE Act would be amended to keep madrassas out of it. Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal has only assured the Board of changes. But it could be a missed opportunity to push madrassas to update their curricula or allow their students to attend school elsewhere—as Imamuddin does.

“RTE Act’s main strength is the treatment of all children under one category,” says Krishna Kumar, professor of education at Delhi University, adding that “such an amendment could undermine it”. RTE Act allows only an approved curriculum, specifies the infrastructure a school should have, including boundary walls, separate toilets for boys and girls, qualified teachers, playgrounds, etc. Madrassas tend to not meet these norms because they are mostly funded by charitable donations, usually create their own syllabi—mainly religious—and award their own graduation certificate.

The fear of a change has caused a backlash. “Some people want American laws here but that is not practical,” says Mohammed Adeeb, an independent Rajya Sabha member who is also with the Board. Others see deeper reasons. Maulana Athar Ali, who runs a madrassa at Mumbai’s iconic Minara Masjid, calls RTE Act “a conspiracy by the government to interfere in the running of religious schools”.

Others community leaders agree that there is a need for modernisation but stress that it should come from within the community and with the government’s stamp. “We cannot kill our soul to modernise,” says Ata-ur-Rahman Qasmi, another Board member.

Madarssas mainly teach religious subjects and languages although many have added English, Hindi and even computers to their curricula. But while religious education is rigorous, secular education is typically of a lower standard compared to regular schools with mathematics and science often getting a miss. This factor, along with socio-economic disadvantages the community struggles with, led the Sachar Committee to conclude that Muslims often lagged in national educational standards. For instance, the Committee said that 25% of Muslim children had either never attended school, or dropped out, and literacy levels among Muslims were lower than the national average.

While the Committee’s report underscores the need for bolstering education in the community, any government role in modernising madrassas is seen as interference in religious matters. Therefore, the government has largely taken the delicate approach of offering aid to those madrassas that are ready to modernise their curricula.

“I used to believe that change would come from within the community, but I have given up the hope,” says Arshad Alam, who teaches at the Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University. “The state has to act as a modernising agent. But on one hand, the government says the community is backward, on the other, it takes populist decisions that will not lift Muslims out of backwardness,” he says referring to the possible amendment in RTE Act.

With the school system beginning to conform to RTE norms, the chasm with madrassas could widen. “Why does anyone think it is okay to run a school without a boundary wall, a toilet or any of the things the Act asks for?” asks Krishna Kumar, former Director of the National Council for Educational Research and Training.

Meanwhile, change is already palpable at madrassas. Darul Uloom Deoband, probably the most influential madrassa in the country, recently started a two-year English course for 20-30 of its graduates. Others, in Gujarat and Rajasthan, offer vocational training courses along with religious studies. Athar Ali also plans to start a vocational training school at his Mumbai madrassa where students would be taught translation, and trained in mobile repair, electrical wiring among other trades—the school will be open to students from every religion.

“The largest number of vacancies in madrassas these days are for English-speaking people,” says Waris Mazhari, who edits Tarjuman-i Dar Ul-Uloom, an alumni magazine for Deoband. “Apart from teaching English at madrassas, preachers now want websites and brochures in English. And they would like madrassa graduates, with beards and kurtas, to do this.”

There are also a growing number of madrassa graduates who have now made their way into few universities that accept their certificates and some who have been transferred to other universities. Currently, madrassa certificates are accepted only by a handful of universities and usually only for degrees in Urdu, Arabic and Persian. But these students face the problem of belonging to a world that is cut off from the mainstream educational system.

“I wanted to study but since my parents got me enrolled with a madrassa, I am worried about my future,” Imamuddin says. After six years in another madrassa, he joined Jamia Qadriya Ashrafia—located in a grungy by-lane of Mohammed Ali Road—when he was told that he could also attend night school. Now, he attends madrassa classes till noon, English and computer classes in the afternoon and goes to night school. He spends the nights completing homework assigned by both the madrassa and the school. And, pre-dawn prayer call means he sleeps for only a few hours. But Imamuddin feels he is not missing out on anything. “Now, I can work with the clergy and if I don’t get a job, I could work elsewhere,” he says. Ideally, he wants to use his education to teach at a madrassa.

Maulana Moin Ashraf, who runs Jamia Qadriya Ashrafia, says that others from the madrassa community like his school, but are fearful of replicating it. “Maybe, they feel that if another curriculum is introduced, then our religious education will get a short shrift. But that has not happened; children like following both.”

Tehelka, 15 December 2011

LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is at loggerheads with the Congress-led UPA government. The board made it public by announcing to launch an agitation against some of the government’s most publicized legislation and proposed measures.

The Board is upset by several clauses in the Right to Education Act, 2009, Waqf Amendment Bill 2011, Communal Violence Bill and Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2011.This has come at a time when Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is on a march in western UP to win over farmers and Muslims.

At a meeting held in Lucknow, the AIMPLB passed a resolution, stating that various provisions in Waqf Property Bill were incomplete. It said that the proposed Waqf Development Agency would have an adverse impact on the Waqf properties and the income would have to be shared, which would further hamper the interests of the Muslim community.

On Right to Education Act (RTE), the AIMPLB’s resolution said that it would take away the rights of the minority institutions to offer religious education and mother tongue learning. The board has demanded that the madarssas and minority institutions should be exempted from the RTE Act 2009. About Direct Tax Code Bill, the AIMPLB expressed its difference on the grounds that it is going to end the concession given to the religious places, religious institutions, and charitable societies and anjumans in tax payment.

The AIMPLB is opposed to the draft bill on communal violence which ignored the role of provocative speeches, articles and rumours that often triggered communal violence. The bill is silent on identifying and punishing those responsible for making hate speeches, writing hate articles and fuelling rumours. Unless this provision is included, the communal violence bill will not serve any purpose, it stated.

According to Zafaryab Jilani, series of protest meetings will be held across the country including Lucknow over these issues after the month of Ramzan by AIMPLB. Protests and rallies would be held, starting from western UP from July. Such protests would be held in all major cities of the country. Muslim clerics and community leaders will expose UPA government’s double standards on issues related to Muslims.

The AIMPLB’s announcement assumes significance in the light of recent comments made by Union minister and Congress leader Salman Khursheed. He reportedly said that implementation of Sachar Committee report will lead to ghettoisation of Muslims. His observation was slammed by Muslim leaders across the country.

What has added to the worries of Congress is Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s announcement to support demands of the AIMPLB. Recently, AIMPLB member Kamal Farooqui joined the SP. Farooqui is also associated with several eminent Muslim organisations including All-India Milli Council.

The Times of India, July 06, 2011

Author: Kayo Kasai

Introduction: In the four years after the war, the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) of Kosovo and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) made efforts to restore security, the rule of law and the full exercise of human rights for each and every person in Kosovo regardless of his/her ethnicity. One of their main objectives, given persisting ethnic tensions, a high unemployment rate, and relatively lower educational standards compared with European educational standards, was to establish an inclusive and qualified education system in which every child could have access to education. The education system was to help children understand equal rights. However, it soon became clear that to build such an inclusive system, accurate data needed to be collected and every aspect of the educational environment analyzed.

For more, read the pdf.