What India constitution says about Minorities Educational rights?

Minorities of any nation are integral part of their countries. They play a very vital role in every country’s political & social upliftment, contributing significantly in the development of all countries .No society can develop if its minority population is neglected and not given proper education.

Over the years India has seen that Governments from time to time develop programmes & schemes for educational development of Minorities. "All minorities…shall have the right to establish and administer education institutions of their own"_____ is the mandate, as per Article 30(1) of the Constitution. Government is committed to address the existing backwardness in education of minorities, especially the Muslims, constituting the major chunk of the minorities. Therefore, the Prime Minister's New 15 Point Programme, inter-alia, aims to enhance opportunities for education of minorities ensuring an equitable share in economic activities and employment.

To address the low participation of the minorities especially Muslims who are the largest section of educationally backward minorities, in the national education system, the Government of India and other organizations  has taken several significant initiatives:-

Articles 29 and 30 of Indian Constitution guarantee the right of minorities to conserve the language, script and culture and to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice whether based on religion or language. So far as linguistic minorities are concerned the following constitutional guarantees have been provided which are in addition to articles relating to fundamental rights in part III of the Constitution:-

(i) Article 29. Protection of interests of minorities.

(a) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.

(b) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution. maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

(ii) Article 30. Right of Minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.

(a) All minorities, whether based on religion-or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

(b) The State shall not in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of minority, whether based on religion or language.

(iii) Article 350 A. Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage.

(a) It shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups; and the President may issue such directions to any State as he considers necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities.

The implementation of the above guarantees has been uneven although the various Conferences of Education Ministers, 116 Government of India memorandum of 1956 as also the statement on languages in 1958 etc., have been laying emphasis on the special treatment to linguistic minorities.

2. According to 1981 Census, the religious minorities constitute about 17.4% of the population of which Muslims are 11.4%, Christians 2.4%, Sikhs 2%, Buddhists 0.7% and Jains 0.5%. Ministry of Home Affairs have identified Muslims and Neo-Buddhists as educationally backward at national level. It was agreed that the State Governments may also identify other groups which are educationally backward at the State level. Special efforts need to be taken to bring these educationally backward minorities on par with the rest of the society and to make them participate fully in the national developmental activities.

3. The National Policy on Education 1986 states the following regarding education of minorities vide para 4.8 of the document: "Some minority groups are educationally deprived or backward. Greater attention will be paid to the education of these groups in the interest of equality and social justice. This will naturally include the constitutional guarantees given to them to establish and administer their own educational institutions, and protection to their languages and culture. Simultaneously, objectivity will be reflected in the preparation of text books and in all school activities, and all possible measures will be taken to promote an integration based on appreciation of common national goals and ideals, in conformity with the core curriculum."