Higher education students at madrassas face uncertain future after SC order

After the Supreme Court declared higher education degrees awarded by the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board unconstitutional, there is a demand to accommodate the about 25,000 students who are currently pursing these courses in any other recognised university.

The state government has also said it will find a way out after considering all the legal aspects of this matter.

In an order on November 5, the Supreme Court declared the Kamil and Fazil degrees -- equivalent to graduation and post-graduation degrees -- awarded by the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board Board unconstitutional, saying it was in conflict with the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.

Zaman Khan, the General Secretary of the Teachers Association Madaris Arabia Uttar Pradesh, said the court's decision has created a difficult situation for the thousands of current students as the board will not be able to conduct exams for these courses now.

"The order of the Supreme Court is supreme. But the government must find some way to deal with the situation that has arisen so that the future of the students studying in the Kamil and Fazil courses of the Madrasa Board does not remain dark," he told PTI said on Sunday.

Minority Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said the government will definitely find a way out by studying the SC order and discussing its various legal aspects.

On the question of whether the students studying in the Madrasa Board's Kamil and Fazil courses will be linked to any other university, the minister said, "All aspects will be considered and only after that the government will take any decision."  Madrasa Board Registrar R P Singh said about 25,000 students are studying in the Kamil and Fazil courses run by the board currently, and whatever decision the government takes will be followed.

Meanwhile, former Madrasa Board member Qamar Ali said that the Board's Kamil degree had the status of graduation and Fazil degree had the status of post-graduation, but even earlier they were not recognised for appearing in competitive examinations.

These degree-holders would get jobs only in madrasas which has also ended after the Supreme Court order, he said, demanding the current students be given a chance in recognised universities.

The Madrasa Board had earlier given a proposal to the government to accommodate the students of its Kamil and Fazil courses in the Lucknow-based 'Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu-Arabic-Persian University' but no decision was taken on it, he said.

It is not clear from the order that from when these degrees will be considered unconstitutional, but the government should take steps to affiliate these students with a UGC-recognised university, he said.

There are about 25,000 madrassas in Uttar Pradesh -- 16,500 recognised by the State Madrasa Board and 8,500 unrecognized. A total of 560 of them receive grants from the state government.

In its order on October 5, the SC upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board Act, 2004, overturning an Allahabad High Court order of March 2024 which declared it unconstitutional.

However, the SC declared the provisions pertaining to higher education (Kamil and Fazil degrees) were unconstitutional (meaning the Madrasa Board cannot offer these degrees) as they are in conflict with University Grant Commission (UGC) Act.

"The UGC Act governs the standards for higher education and a state legislation cannot seek to regulate higher education, in contravention of the provisions of the UGC Act," it said.