Minutes of the Meeting on Access to Education for Children of Minority (24-11-2016)
A
small meeting was called to raise the issue of the lack of Muslim participation
in the National Campaign for Right to Education and the role of Muslim
organizations and networks in increasing Muslim community involvement in education.
It was sought to be emphasized that the involvement of every section of Indian
society was needed to demand an education system from the State that was State
funded, inclusive and equitable, an education system that was not led by the political
ideology of the times raising but one which remained neutral, apolitical and
scientific at all times. The RTE Act, 2009, promises such an education system and
therefore its full implementation in letter and spirit by the State is
imperative. The RTE Forum monitors the implementation of the RTE Act, 2009
operating on a campaign mode. An education system that swayed with the
political ideology of the ruling political party tended to give rise to
education quality and inclusion issues.
The
idea to have such a meeting was initiated by Naaz Khair in consultation with
Navaid Hamid. Navaid Hamid, the President of Majlis-e-Mushawarat, offered to
host the meeting at the Mushawarat office. It was attended by representatives
of a few Muslim networks and interested individuals. Names of the participants
are listed at the end of this report. Majlis-e-Mushawarat is an apex body of
Muslim organizations. These are a mix of political, apolitical, social,
religious and educational organizations with extensive community outreach.
Participants
at the meeting discussed Muslim education issues and the issues of Muslim
community led organizations, while exploring possibilities of Muslim networks and
organisations working together with the RTE forum:
·
The participant
from Muslim Education Trust (MET) said that the Trust is involved in extensive
work with thousands of minority educational institutions. However, since the
RTE Act came into force, a conflicting situation had developed between schools
exempted from the RTE Act and those that had not been exempted. There was a
need to take everyone along while working with the objectives of the RTE forum.
The educational concerns of minority educational institutions are not in
variance from the objective of the RTE Act.
·
Small private
schools or learning centres: There are almost 17000 such learning centres
catering to more than 5 lac students. One third of these learning centres are
Muslim managed. There is a need to
acknowledge the contribution of these learning centres and extend official
recognition to them. The RTE norms for private school recognition cannot be
applied on these learning centres, which are much smaller in size. Closing down
educational institutions with sizeable population of children studying in them
is not a solution.
·
Sharing of
experience by Chandrakanta from CSEI of sustained advocacy with the RTE Forum
to ensure the Forum’s involvement around Article 12 (1) c of the RTE Act as
this provision aimed at the creation of inclusive schools in the long term
through sensitization of students from better off backgrounds when they came in
contact with EWS and DA students.
·
Muslim children
are grossly under-represented in the RTE quota seats in private schools.
·
Only a small
section of Muslim students study in minority educational institutions and an
even smaller in fact miniscule percentage of Muslim students go to madarsas.
Predominantly, Muslim students depend upon government schools for education.
·
The longstanding
issue of lack of adequate number of government schools in minority concentrated
districts/blocks was (Muslim majority areas within these) was raised. Even if
there are schools, many of them are not located within the stipulated distance
of 1 Km from the Muslim inhabited areas. The RTE Act provides for school
mapping. There is an urgent need for school mapping to be undertaken in
Minority Concentrated Districts.
·
Need to study
minority budget: Minority budgets are reducing in key educational areas
including scholarships. Within Minority budgets those allocated for Muslims are
not in sync with the development needs of the Muslim community- e.g. of Uttar
Pradesh where huge budget was allocated for the fencing of graveyards. Budgets
for Muslims are also frequently diverted and budget utilisation is also very
poor leading to smaller size budgets for Muslims over time.
·
There is no
dearth of NGOs in the Muslim community. However, involvement of the Muslim
community in the social sector is considerably weakened on account lack of
funds with Muslim support organizations to capacitate the Community led
organizations. There is almost no initiative on the part of mainstream civil
society actors to strengthen the programmatic and organizational aspects of
these organizations.
·
Jamia
Nagar/Okhla is the hub of Muslim organizations operating in the state of Delhi
and in some other states as well. It will be critical for the Delhi RTE Forum
to align with these organizations and vice-versa.
·
There is a need
for Muslim organizations/networks to align with the National RTE Forum as well
as with the Delhi state RTE forum and vice-versa.
·
Muslim
organizations operating on their own fear the threat of backlash from vested
interests on using RTI to monitor
government programs.
·
The Muslim
community needs to be a part of the political movement for a strong National
Public System of Education funded by the State. It is a curious phenomenon that
Muslims are missing from almost all mainstream institutions- e.g. of Gandhi
Peace Foundation was given. While it is said that Muslims and Gandhians are
natural allies, today at an institution like the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Muslims
are virtually absent. Muslim organizations will have to proactively join
mainstream movements. Civil society also needs to introspect on the near lack
of participation of Muslim organisations in mainstream movements and
initiatives.
·
The status of
Muslim education is very poor. Education of Muslim girls, particularly in the
rural areas, education of children from backward Muslim communities, overall
emphasis on education of Muslim children in rural areas, education of poor
Muslim children in urban areas, Muslim children out of school, etc, are areas
that need to come on the agenda of Muslim organizations and the RTE Forum on a
priority basis.
It
was proposed that a meeting takes place between RTE Forum members (at least 15
participants) and representatives of key Muslim networks and Muslim
organizations based in Delhi to take forward the discussions initiated in this
small meeting. The 17th of December has been proposed for the
meeting.
Names of Participants
1. Navaid Hamid- President of Majlis-e-Mushawarat
2. Mozaffar Ali- Education Representative, Muslim
Education Trust
3. Arman Ansari- Swaraj India
4. Mohd. Shadab- SIO Delhi
5. Yasir Atiq- SIO Delhi
6. G. A. Qadir- Hamdard Delhi
7. Abdul Rashi Agwan
8. Shaheen Ansari- Arkitect India
9. Salma Khatoon (Phd)- Jamia Milia Islamia
10. Chandrakanta Bharti- CSEI Delhi
11. Naaz Khair- Freelancer, Education, Social Sector,
Delhi
Prepared by Naaz Khair
