The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to constitute 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 said that it had come to notice that many times parents and guardians admitted their wards late in madrasas and the government wanted to put an end to this practice.
“A committee will be formed to determine the age of the student for admission in various classes of madrasas. On the basis of the report of this committee, a decision will be taken. At present, there are no plans to fix the maximum age for admission in madrasas,” Ansari said.
Almost a week ago, Minority Welfare Minister Dharampal Singh had told reporters during distribution of smartphones/tablets to meritorious students of high schools of madrasas that many beneficiaries were older men and this was not right.
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 misinterpreted.
''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.