Why are madrasas and vedic schools out of purview of Right to Education Act ?

From: Indian Express

Keep madrasas out of RTE, Digvijaya tells PM

Express news service Posted online: Tue Dec 13 2011, 01:05 hrs

New Delhi : The All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Muslim clerics have sent several delegations to the Human Resource Development ministry and even threatened to start an agitation if madrasas are not kept out of the Right to Education Act’s provisions. That apart, a delegation of Congress leaders, led by Digvijaya Singh, today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to exempt minority education from the ambit of the Right to Education Act.

“There are some issues under the Right to Education where the formulation of the syllabus and other things are contentious. That can be resolved by discussions with the minority institutions,” Singh told reporters.

The delegation also requested the PM to release the payment of madrasa teachers.

“Modernisation of madrasa programme was started when Manmohan Singh was the finance minister. Now the payment of teachers for two-three years has been pending and there was no resolution despite our meeting with the HRD minister,” said the Congress general secretary.

He said the PM has given directions to HRD and Finance ministries to give payments immediately.

Taking a cue from the madrasa bodies, vedic schools — affiliated to the Kanchi Matha, Ahobila Matha and Andavan Ashram, among others — had raised a similar demand. The HRD ministry has moved an amendment to the RTE Act keeping both madrasas and vedic schools out of its purview.