‘Govt has no grounds to target minority schools’

‘Govt has no grounds to target minority schools’
Shreya Bhandary & Ashley D’Mello, TNN | Jun 30, 2011, 05.47am IST

The government’s decision to issue show-cause notices to four prominent city schools on the grounds that they are violating rules while filling up their minority quota is based on an incorrect reading of the law, say educationists and experts. The minorities minister Arif Naseem Khan on Tuesday had threatened to withdraw the minority status of St Mary’s, St Xavier’s, Christ Church and Holy Family Schools saying that they were not following the rules.

He said that “all educational institutions with religious or linguistic minority status had to give 50% of the total seats to the minority communities they represent”. Khan, however, failed to take into consideration a government resolution (GR) dated July 4, 2008—issued by the minorities development department—which clearly states that only institutions running higher and technical educational and professional courses have to compulsorily admit 50% students from the minority community. There is no such quota prescribed for schools.

Khan had said he would recommend that the school education department appoint an administrator if the schools failed to prove that there was no “misconduct”. The chairman of the minorities commission Naseem Siddiqui said this action highlights the minorities department’s lack of information as a Supreme Court order states that an administrator can’t be appointed by the state to govern a minority institute “The 2008 GR only mentions higher education institutes under the minority status. There is no clarity on minority status rules for schools. If school students of that particular community have not applied to fill up all seats under the minority quota, the seats are open to candidates from other communities too,” said Siddiqui.

Khan said his department was following up on complaints filed by a group of PTA members and NGOs. “Though there is no specific percentage prescribed by the government for minority schools, the institutions cannot misuse their status. We can’t ignore complaints. I have asked for an immediate inquiry.”

The Mumbai Catholic Sabha and Maharashtra Christian Association have criticized the move, which they say, undermines the good work being done by Christian institutions in Maharashtra. “Christian schools are being targeted unfairly,” said Sabha president Gordon D’S ouza. Other minority institutions have also expressed their concern over the state’s highhandedness. “The Protestant churches are concerned about the manner in which the state is interfering in the running of minority institutions,” said Rev Victor Gollapalli, secretary of the Maharashtra Council of Churches.