Shillong, June 23: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sounded alarm over the existence of ‘Madrasas’ in Meghalaya, where children are reportedly being prepared for ‘Akhirat’, or life after death.

Shocked at this discovery, Chairperson of NCPCR, Priyank Kanoongo, has asked the State Government to conduct a survey of all the madrasas in Meghalaya and ensure children are enrolled in formal schooling system, stating that these institutions are primarily imparting religious teachings and not formal education.

Addressing the media in Shillong on Saturday, Kanoongo said, “This is an alarming situation. We have requested the authorities to get a survey done of all these Madrasas in the state and get the children enrolled in the formal schooling system because as per the mandate of Article 21(a) of the Constitution of India, every child has a right to get education and a formal school till the completion of age of 14 years and every state government is duty bound to provide them with this right which is right to education.”

He emphasised that Madrasas are not schools but they are institutions for religious education. “I have come across one incident where I had spoken to a child in the state of Meghalaya (during my visit to Ampati last month), who was returning from Madrasa, so he told me we are just studying religious education there. I asked him what he wants to be after reaching adulthood, he told me we don’t want to become any professionals like doctors or advocates but we are preparing ourselves for the ‘Akhirat’ meaning life after death, they are preparing themselves for the day of judgment. This is an alarming situation and I have shown that video to the authorities,” he said.

He, however, said that the department concerned was unaware of the existence of Madrasas in the state. “So, we requested them (education department) to get (the madrasas) checked and enrol the children into formal schooling so children can avail their fundamental right to education as mandated by Article 21(a) of Constitution of India,” he said.

Further, the chairperson said that the state education department and the tribal affairs department have also been asked to increase the number of hostels in order to contain the number of out of school children in the state.

“We also requested the department of labour to provide with the compensation to all children who have been rescued from the situation of child labour,” he said.

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