Shia Schools and Colleges
(Judicial Quest News Network)
As per Section 2 (f) of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) Act, 2004 Minority means a community notified as such by the Central Government. The Central Government under the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992 has notified six religious minority communities namely Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Muslim, Parsi and Jain. The NCMEI grants Minority Status Certificate to the eligible minority educational institutions which are established and administered by the notified religious minorities.
As on 31.10.2021, the NCMEI has granted Minority Status Certificate to 13,602 Minority Educational Institutions, out of which a total of 5,153 educational institutions are run by the management belonging to the Muslim community, 300 by Sikh, 7550 by Christian, 63 by Buddhist, 522 by Jains and 14 by Parsi community. Further, as per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2019 by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, the enrolment of minority students in higher education in last five years has increased from 22,96,671 in 2015-16 to 29,88,610 in 2019-20. As per AISHE, 2019-20 (based on actual response), total number of teachers belonging to minority communities in the higher educational institutions is 2,18,491.
Further, as per the UDISE+ 2019-20 data of Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, out of 50,536 minority schools (including linguistic minorities), 27,259 schools are run by the management belonging to Muslims, 600 by Sikh, 1140 by Jain, 15808 by Christian, 126 by Parsi, 720 by Buddhist and 4883 by Linguistic Minorities & others. UDISE+ does not maintain data separately for Shia, Ahmadia, etc. Further, as per UDISE+, the total enrolment of minority students in schools has increased from 4,44,61,346 in 2018-19 to 4,75,43,853 in 2019-20. Data on religion of teachers is not maintained.
This information was given by the union minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.