Denial of permission for school upgrade violates minority rights: panel

Refusal of permission by a State government to a Muslim upper primary school for being upgraded as a high school is a violation of the educational rights of the minorities enshrined in Article 30 (1) of the Constitution, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions has held.

Rejecting the Kerala government's contention that the permission could not be granted in view of a policy decision, the Commission, headed by its Chairman Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui, said: “The fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 30 (1) cannot be sacrificed at the altar of the policy of the State government.”

The Commission said: “The parameters empirically evaluated by the Sachchar Committee in the areas of elementary and higher education have shown that among comparable groups, Muslims are scratching the educational barrel of the country. The Central government has also made some positive efforts to address various aspects of Muslim deprivation and also to enhance the inclusiveness of the Muslim community.”

“But the larger malice of exclusion,” it said, “has to be fought at the national and State levels. Education can be a liberating capability but often access to it is made difficult by some misguided elements in the State government. The present case is a glaring example of Muslim deprivation in … education.”

In the instant case, MIC Orphanage UP School in Thrissur district approached the Commission after it was denied permission to upgrade itself as a high school. Counsel for the school Haris Beeran submitted that the school was denied permission despite the recommendation by the Deputy Director of Education, Thrissur. But, Counsel for Kerala P.V. Dinesh submitted that permission could not be granted since the government adopted a policy not to upgrade schools except under special circumstances.

The school had all infrastructure and instructional facilities for upgradation, the Commission said, pointing out that in view of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the government was also under a constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child aged 6-14. It recommended that the State government permit the school to be upgraded as a high school.