Following the ruling by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court declaring the Madarsa Education Act unconstitutional, the recognition of all madarsas in Uttar Pradesh has been terminated. Henceforth, those madarsas meeting specified standards will have the opportunity to function akin to primary or secondary schools, provided they obtain recognition from the UP Board, CBSE, or ICSE.
On 22nd March, the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) pronounced the ‘UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004’ as unconstitutional, and infringing the fundamental principles of secularism. On Thursday (4th April), Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra instructed the District Magistrates to follow this order.
According to the directives of the Uttar Pradesh state government, Madarsas failing to meet the prescribed standards will not receive recognition from any educational board, resulting in the cessation of their operations. Children enrolled in these madarsas will be transferred to government primary schools or middle schools for their education.
To oversee this transition, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra has formed a five-member committee under the chairmanship of DM of all districts. This committee will identify madrasas and get the children studying there admitted to nearby schools. Students may be admitted to private schools also if required. If the students can’t accommodate in any school, the committee may consider opening new schools.
While ruling the ‘UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004’ unconstitutional, the Allahabad High Court had also instructed the Uttar Pradesh government to devise a plan to accommodate students currently enrolled in madrasas in the formal education system. This verdict came months after the state administration resolved to inspect the state’s Islamic education establishments, and it also constituted an SIT in October 2023 to investigate madrasas’ money from abroad. The High Court’s decision came in response to a writ petition filed by Anshuman Singh Rathore challenging the authority of the UP Madarsa Board, as well as objecting to Madarsa’s management by the Minority Welfare Department.
There are about 16 thousand madarsas in UP, in which there are a total of 13.57 lakh enrolled students. Of the total madarsas, there are 560 aided madarsas, where 9,500 teachers are employed. UP Minority Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said that the petition of Madarsa Azizia Izazutul Uloom Anjum Qadri has challenged the High Court’s decision, which is to be heard on Friday. He said that the government would present its stand on this issue in the court.