Education and the Minority Communities

• National Policy on Education 1986 - Programme of Action 1992, Government of India, R.N00.33, Education of Minorities- Ch3 Minorities’ Education- pg 9-16

• Educational and Cultural Rights of the Minorities: A Study in Social Effects of the Judicial Trends in India & Some Other Articles, Sharma, G. S., 01/01/1973, R.L60.6

• Elementary Education for the Poorest and other Deprived Groups: The Real Challenge of Universalisation, Jha, Jyotsna & Jhingran, Dhir, Centre for Policy Research, 01/06/2002, R.N00.23, Edu of minorities- pg 138- 156

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The Objectives Resolution, moved by Jawaharalal Nehru at the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly on December 13, 1946, contained a pledge that in the Constitution "adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas and other backward classes." This pledge was made good by our Founding Fathers. Article 30 (1) of the Constitution guaranteed to all minorities, whether based on religion or on language, the right to establish and administer educational institutions; the state was prohibited from discriminating against any educational institution on the ground that it was under the management of a religious or linguistic minority (Article 30 (2)). 

 

...We minorities in India have been consistently protected by pronouncements of our Supreme Court. In a celebrated decision rendered in 1974 the great Justice Khanna gave the reason why minority interests are so zealously protected by the highest Court: "The constitution and the laws made by civilized nations, generally contain provisions for the protection of minority interests. It can, indeed, be said to be an index of the level of civilisation and catholicity of a nation as to how far their minorities feel secure and are not subject to any discrimination or suppression." He spoke these stirring words in the St. Xaviers' College case more than twenty five years ago. But alas times have changed and so have the Judges.

 

...It is said many minority educational institutions have abused the privilege given to them under Article 30 of our Constitution. This is true in many cases but the remedy for this was stated way back in 1959 in the first land mark decision on minority rights in the Kerala Education Case (1959) where Chief Justice S. R. Das (himself a staunch Hindu but also a staunch liberal nationalist) proclaimed that the safeguard against abuse was built into the framework of Article 30 itself. The Article says that minorities have a right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. The right is given to minorities to administer such in stitutions not to mal-administer them. When they do so mal-administer they can be dealt with under ordinary laws. In the name of preventing mal-administration, the fundamental right of minorities (religious and linguistic) is now being fast eroded particularly by State Legislatures and State administrators, without much check from the Courts.

By a historic judgement, the Supreme Court has re-cently determined the na-ture and extent of minority rights regarding the establishment and administration of educational in-stitutions. It has pointed out that though the minorities have, under Art. 30, the necessary right to 'establish and administer' such institutions, the state has, simi-larly, legal opportunity to impose reasonable restrictions upon them. In other words, it has sought to strike a balance between such con-flicting claims and to determine the actual nature of this right guaranteed to the minorities.
Art. 30 (1) reads, 'All minori-ties, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educa-tional institutions of their choice.' And Clause (2) of this Article guar-antees that the state shall not, in granting aid, discriminate against any educational institutions on the ground that it is under the man-agement and control of a particu-lar minority whether based on re-ligion or language.

 

Thus, the term, 'minority' in this Article has been used in two senses. Normally, it refers to a group of persons articulated on the basis of religion. But Art. 30 of the Indian Constitution has used the word in another sense by which it is to be determined on the population-structure of differ-ent states. As Dr B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Consti-tution, observed in the Constitu-ent Assembly, 'It was also used in cultural and linguistic sense.
...Art. 30 has spe-cially mentioned the right of the linguistic and cultural minorities with regard to education. Accord-ing to it, they are entitled to es-tablish and administer educational institutions of their own choice and the state cannot, without valid and necessary reason, interfere with such right. Moreover, under Art.30(2), the state can, by no means, discriminate against any institution on the ground that it is established and administered by a particular minority.
As a. stark reality, this right is intended to safeguard the cultural and educational rights of the mi-norities.Obviously, this Article is clearly related to Art.29 which says that people with a distinct language and culture have the fundamental right to conserve them...

 

But, in a civilised society, no right can be absolute or unre-strained. So, the rights of the mi-norities to establish and adminis-ter their institutions cannot be unlimited. In fact, the right to administer does not mean a right of maladministration. On differ-ent occasions, the apex court ruled that such right could be restricted in the interest of health, morality, public order and peace (Sidhrajbhai Vs Gujarat, 1974). Moreover, if such institutions take financial assist-ance from the state, they cannot impart religious lessons, nor can they refuse the admission to the students belonging to Scheduled Castes or Tribes.

 

... majority-community too has the right to establish and admin-ister such institutions, but some non-majority students have to be admitted. In this case also, the state shall have the right to fix up the quota of such admission. Thus, once again, the apex court has held that the minorities do not have absolute right to es-tablish and administer their edu-cational institutions, because every right is constitutionally regulated.

The Court, by a 6:5 majority, has also said, 'Right to administer is not an absolute right and, hence, there could be regulatory measures by the Government for ensuring edu-cational standards and maintain-ing excellence thereof and it is more so in the matter of admis-sion to professional institutions.'

 

In fact, the minority-institutions cannot be allowed to fall below the standard of excellence normally expected of educational in-stitutions or to run under the whims of the management. In other words, though the scope of total management must be left to them, they should be compelled to keep in step with others. More over, such educational institutions should not possess the vicious right to hinder the growth of national unity and common culture.

A. The right guaranteed to minorities in Article 30(1) is a positive one, giving special privileges. It is given to linguistic and religious minorities only. For the protection of Article 30(1) it is not neces-sary that minority should be both religious and linguistic. The right is not also limited to the teach-ing of their religion or language alone.
In D.A.V. College, Jullundur vs. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court brushed aside the sugges-tion that only those educational institutions of the minorities are entitled to protection under Article 30(1) whose purpose is only to conserve the language, script or culture of the minority com-munities. The minorities may establish institution for the purpose of giving general education.

A. The Supreme Court in several judgements said that Article 330(1) is couched in absolute terms and therefore does not admit abridgement in substance, although regulatory measures could be imposed by the government in view of maintaining
efficiency.
In Sidhajbhai Sabhai v. State of Bombay, the Supreme Court said, ... "Article 30 is absolute in terms. It is not made subject to any reasonable restrictions .... All minorities, linguistic and reli-gious, have an absolute right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and any law or executive direction which seeks to infringe the substance of that right under Ar-ticle 30(1) would to that extent be void .... Regulations made in the true interests of efficiency of instruction, discipline, health, sanitation, morality, public order and the like may undoubtedly be imposed. Such regulations are not restrictions on the substance of the right which is guaran-teed; they secure the proper functioning of the institutions in educational matters."

The Centre has told the supreme court that minority communities may be entitled to set up educa-tional institutions and ad-minister them but such a right cannot be considered as absolute.
Supporting reasonable re-strictions on the minorities' right to administer such in-stitutions, solicitor-general Harish N. Salve told an 11-judge bench headed by Chief Justice B.N. Kirpal that though Article 30 confers the right, it is not so wide as to block state laws which are applicable to all and enacted for the attainment of secular objectives.
Elaborating his submission during the ongoing hearing of about 200 petitions on the issue of the mi-norities' right to run and ad-minister educational institu-tions, Mr Salve said if the right under Article 30 was made absolute, then "even if a minority educational insti-tution taught secession or armed revolution, the government could not interfere in the management of the in-stitution". "Nobody can be allowed to do something against public order under the garb of the right to profess religion," Mr Salve said. "A total hands-off approach for the government cannot be perceived, be it the majority or the minority," he added.
Since the constitution per-mits legislative intervention regarding management and administration of "secular schools", Mr Salve said it would be absurd to say that the same could not be per-missible in educational insti-tutions run by minorities.

With college admissions now in progress, the issue of reservation of seats for linguistic minorities has cropped up once again. Many col-leges managed by linguistic minorities are openly declaring that they have re-served as many as 50 per cent of their seats for students J.K. Bhambhani from their respective communities. This has resulted in widespread resentment among Marathi-speaking youth who feel discriminated against in their own state.

 

There is lot of resentment among Marathi-speaking students of Mumbai because they have less chance of getting admission in col-leges run by Sindhis, South Indi-ans, Gujaratis and other linguistic minorities. These colleges are openly advertising the fact that as much as 50 per cent of their seats are reserved for students of their communities. Don't you. think that this is unjust?

The first clause of Article 30 of the constitution gives minorities the fun-damental right to administer educa-tional institutions for members of their communities. This position has been rightly upheld by the apex court. We were compelled by circumstances to move the court to defend our funda-mental  right.

 

If you are not filling 50 per cent with Sindhi students, then why have a seperate quota for them?

The aim is to safeguard our basic rights as minorities. We are not against anybody. But minority rights have to be protected in a democracy In fact, the courts have clarified that just because a minority institution gets a government grant it does not mean that its rights can be trampled upon by the authorities.

Any community which is less than one per cent of the population of a state is treated as a minority. For example, Sindhis are minorities in all the states of the Indian union. We have no state of our own. We have set up educational institutions not only for our community, but for others as well. We are only ensuring  that students belonging to our com-munity, and who have merit, are not at a disadvantage. We have nothing any against any other community. In fact, the cut-off line (of marks) for Sindhis and students belonging to the backward categories is the same.

Marathi-speaking people have allowed those from outside Maha-rashtra to come to Mumbai and flourish in the metropolis. Shouldn't the linguistic minorities reciprocate their goodwill?

There is no doubt that there should be a sense of fair play. Our board is displaying that in ample measure. I cannot advise other minority-run bodies. But meritorious students should not be denied admission on any ground.

The National Committee for Mon-itoring Minorities Education has identified red tapism, excessive government inter-ference and lack of resources as some of the impediments in the growth of education levels among minorities.

 

Majority of the speakers felt that while the overbearing attitude of the government in opening up new educational institutions for minorities was a deterrent, the non-availabili-ty of bank loans for students belonging to minority com-munities actually served to discourage higher education among the communities.

Mr Hissamul Islam Siddiqui, member of the commit-tee and senior journalist, said that the laid-back attitude of the government on issues related to minority education, particularly higher education, had hampered literacy levels among minorities. "The gov-ernment needs to look beyond madarsa education and encourage the young popula-tion in minority communities to take to higher education and proper resources for this must be made available," he said. He added that com-plaints of harassment of minority"educational institu-tions by government agencies had been received from sever-al states and the NCMME would look into the problems.

The starting point of this paper was the proposition – commonly put forward by researchers and supported by case studies – that literacy level of Muslims, particularly in low-income households, are low. This phenomenon is explained in terms of the values prevalent within the Muslim community. As a result dropouts and non-enrolment is high in Muslim households, there is an in-built resistance to educating daughters and the madrasa is the common vehicle of education. This survey, despite its tentative nature, questions the validity of these propositions.The view that Muslims reject the value of education is notsupported in the survey findings – respondents argued that education was important for both boys and girls. Thus, the value theory cannot be accepted as an explanation of the low levels of education. The motivations underlying choice of education provide an indication of the valid explanation. Studies of factors motivating education demand in rural and urban India emphasise on the economic returns from education. In this study, economic motivations do not appear to be significant, implying that the perceived returns from education are different between Muslims and non-Muslims. This can be expected to create a different pattern of education demand within the Muslim community. This study indicates that parents believe that ‘education’ is important as it helps an individual in his daily life. It is needed by male members to undertake various transactions and enter into different contracts. Knowledge of writing, reading and simple arithmetic skills is necessary to undertake such activities without depending on others. This creates a demand for literacy that can be satisfied by primary education. Education, however, is a broader process and includes higher levels of learning. It is necessary for the efficient performance of activities that are normally not undertaken by slum dwellers. Since Muslims perceive a bias against themselves in the labour market, boys become disinterested in further education.

... the replacement of formal education at the sec-ondary level by vocational training courses may be a relevant option before policy-makers. Such courses will prepare the Muslim boys to be self-employed and may counter-act the economic disincentives to seeking education. In the case of girls, there is a different process at work. The role played by the mother in supervising education of children has been emphasised in this study. A more educated woman is more likely to perform this task efficiently.

 

 Given the low income of slum dwellers, the funds allotted to education are scarce. Al-though, this budget increases with the number of school-going children, the per capita expenditure falls (see first two regression results).28 This implies that children compete between them-selves for scarce funds. Given the pessimistic attitude towards the relationship between education and employment, it is only natural for Muslim parents to divert these funds from a child who has already achieved the minimum education considered necessary and reallocate it towards a younger child who has just started schooling. 

Lok Jumbish activists had skillfully negotiated with the gram samiti that if the Muslim children who attended "madrassa" religious education schools were sent to the regular schools, they would be taught Urdu.

The initial hostility evaporated. Children in these schools are taught English, Hindi, general knowledge, maths and health science. They attend religious schools in addition to the regular schools. It was hard work getting them into the school. We first started work with women's groups where the mothers were motivated to send their daugh-ters for education. Then we used a bit of emo-tional prodding," said Saroj Goel, motivator of Lok Jumbish. One day the village wore a festive look. The el-ders were being feasted and honoured as they were setting off on the Haj voyage. We went over to seek their blessings and asked them 'hamare leye dua karna ki is gaon ki betiya talim hasil kare (pray for us at the Haj pilgrimage that the daughters of this village get educated).* This had a tremendous emotional impact," narrated Pramila Sharma, another volunteer of Lok Jumbish.

Education has led to cultural changes, Young educated girls from this village are finding out the hard way that not everyone respects education. Some are confronting a cultural shock in their married homes. Moveena, 21 and a mother of three has been sent back to her parents. She is the centre of pity because she studied up to the eighth-class and was later married . It seems she could not cope in an uneducated in-laws' home. What hap-pened? 'Unko bolne ki tameez ati nahi," (They don't know how to use civil language) she vol-unteered. 
Pahari village is very proud of an 11 year-old Zeenat. Sports encouragement from Lok Jumbish had turned her into an athlete. Physical training (PT) is a part of the school curriculum and Zeenat, a sprinter, came first in the Bharatpur district sports meet. 

Mr. Inamdar has relied on the foolproof nature of the SSC Board results to convince his community that no examiner can deny a deserving Muslim student the marks due to him/her. The cycles gifted by the local Shiv Sena unit at special felicitation functions to toppers Zarine Ansari, Sadiqa Ansari, Bilal Mistry, Majida Roghangar and Wajeda are testimony to his belief.

The dismal state of Urdu medium schools...

The Urdu medium schools of Delhi have fared poorly in their Standard XII results with 28 per cent of their students passing this year compared to the 84.90 per cent of the English and Hindi medium schools. If schools belongings to the other mediums (English, Hindi, Bengali etc) have broken records of excellence in the recently declared board results, Urdu medium schools in Delhi too have the same, only, in terms of failure.

 

...Akhtar-uz-man, the principal of Anglo Arabic Boy's Senior Secondary Schools complains that the parents are least bothered and  come to the school only twice, first, seeking the child's admissions and second, when the child's name is struck off the roll owing to long absence.

 

The principals of Zeenat Mahal Girl's School says that she has nothing to do in an Urdu medium schools considering she does not know Urdu.  In fact in many of these schools the Principals are from a non-Urdu background and thus these schools are failing miserably.

Iqbal Malak says that most of the Urdu schools have sparsely-lit.  dungeon-like rooms, dilapidated structures, rooms, choking and stinking lavatories, termite-eaten furniture and unhygienic drinking water among others things.  Then the teachers are perpetually missing, the parents are  not bothered and the students are always gallivanting around.

 

Riaz Umar, an educationist, points out that the Qaumi Senior Secondary School at Eidgha has been conducting classes in the open for the last 26 years, as the school building razed to the ground during the emergency was never rebuilt! 

 

...Many teachers of these aided schools have their own sorry tale.  They have to run around to collect the 5 per cent aid they need for their schools.  While  the government pays the 95 per cent, the schools have to cater for the remaining amount.