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."
