UP govt to form committee to fix minimum age for Madrasas admission

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The Uttar Pradesh government would initiate a committee to fix the minimum age for admission in madrasas on the lines of various education boards like the CBSE and ICSE, Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari has said. He said it has come to notice that many times parents and guardians admit their wards late in madrasas, and that the government wants to put an end to this practice.

“A committee would be formed to determine the age of the student for admission in various classes of madrasas, on the basis of whose report a decision would be taken. At present, there are no plans to fix the maximum age for admission in madrasas,” Ansari told PTI.

Around a week ago, Minority Welfare Minister Dharampal Singh had told reporters during distribution of mobile phones/tablets to meritorious students of high schools of madrasas that many older men, who were students at the madrasa, had come to receive the award and that it was not appropriate. The statement had led to speculation that the government would fix a maximum age limit for admission in religious schools. However, Ansari asserted that the government had no such plans and that Singh’s recent statement should not be taken in a wrong way.

“What Dharampal Singh meant was that the education of children studying in madrasas should start at the right time and be completed at the right time,” he said. There are 16,461 madrasas in the state, out of which 560 receive government grants. The state government is emphasising on modern education along with religious education in madrasas and is running various schemes for this.