Lok Sabha Question No. 3639 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: Providing Quality Education in Madrasas
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Kanakmal Katara, Keshari Devi Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3639 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2022

## Providing Quality Education in Madrasas

## †3639. SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA:

SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the efforts made for educating the people of the lowest strata of society;

(b)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  inferior  standard  of  teaching  in  the  schools established on the basis of faith and if so, the details of the action taken thereon;

(c) whether most of the teachers are not trained for imparting quality education in most of the Madrasas in the States including Uttar Pradesh and if so, the details of the efforts being made to train the said teachers;

(d)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  regulate  Madrasas  syllabus  and  also  proposes  to include  modern  syllabus  in  the  existing  curriculum  of  the  Madrasas  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and

(e) whether the Government is aware of the unfavourable attitude prevalent in the Madrasas towards higher education of girls and working women and if so, the details of the steps being taken for improving the same?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a): Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under  domain  of  respective  State  and  UT  Governments.  Samagra  Shiksha,  an  overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII, is running in  the  country  including  the  rural  and  backward  areas  since  2018-19.  The  vision  of  the scheme  is  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable  quality  education  in  accordance  with  the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education and vision of National Education Policy 2020.  Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  all  States  and  UTs  for implementation of various interventions like opening/strengthening of schools, provision of free  textbooks  and  uniforms,  setting  up  and  running  of  residential  schools  and  hostels including  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalayas  and  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Awasiya Vidyalaya,  provisions  for  inclusive  education  of  Children  with  Special  Needs  (CWSN), transport  &  escort  facility,  in-service  training  of  teachers,  sports  and  physical  education, vocational  education  and  other  activities.  Further,  there  is  greater  emphasis  on  equity  and inclusiveness for areas with significant population of Socially & Economically Disadvantaged  Groups,  such  as  SC,  ST,  Minorities  and  Inclusive  education  for  Divyang Children.

Under  'Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti  Nirman'  (PM  POSHAN)  one  hot  cooked  meal  in Government and Government aided schools is provided to students at the elementary level of education. Special provision is made for providing supplementary nutrition items to children in aspirational districts and districts with high prevalence of Anemia.

Under National Mean-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

(b) to (d): The Ministry of Education was implementing a Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM). SPQEM is now being dealt by the Ministry of Minority Affairs  w.e.f.  financial  year  2021-22  i.e.  from  01.04.2021.  SPQEM  is  a  voluntary  and demand  driven  scheme.  The  objective  of  SPQEM  is  to  provide  financial  assistance  to encourage traditional institutions like Madarsas and Maktabs to introduce modern education through  subjects  such  as  Science,  Mathematics,  Social  Studies,  Hindi  and  English  in  their curriculum through support for a maximum of three teachers, on honorarium basis. As per the guidelines  of  SPQEM,  financial  assistance  is  also  provided  for  in-service  training  to  the Madrasa  teachers  at  both  elementary  and  secondary  level.  However,  the  recruitment  and service  conditions  of  the  Madarsa  teachers  come  under  the  domain  of  the  Madarsa Management Committee/State Government. Further, Madrasas affiliated with the Madrasas Education Board in respective States  follow  the  curriculum  of  the  school  education  of  the respective States. If the State follows NCERT curriculum and textbooks in school education, the Madrasas follow NCERT curriculum and textbooks.

(e): According to the guidelines of SPQEM, financial assistance is provided only to  those  Madrasas  that  are  affiliated  to  any  recognized  School  Education  Board  i.e.  State Board of  School  Education,  Central  Board  of  Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  etc.  Madrasas must  obtain  recognition  as  schools  from  the  State  Government  for  availing  any  assistance under  the  scheme.  SPQEM  provided  opportunities  to  students  of  Madrasas  to  acquire education comparable to the National Education System especially for secondary and senior secondary  levels.  This  enables  children  including  girls,  studying  in  these  institutions  to progress to higher levels of learning and also opens up better job opportunities for them.

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