The Minority cell was established in June, 2006 to look after
the problems related to Education of Minority community. The Cell
plays an important and vital role for implementation of NPE 1986
and Programme of Action (POA), 1992. It is making effort to bring
out of schools/Madrasa/ Muslim learners within the fold of
education through alternative schooling by accreditation of Maktab
and Madrasa. Minority Cell therefore has become a major instrument
of Policy intervention for Government of India for improving
educational access for Muslim Minority population at school level
in the light of the recommendations of Sachhar Committee and Prime
Minister-15 Point Programme.
The Minority Cell of NIOS grants accreditation on relaxed norms
especially developed for Minority Institutions. This has helped to
link traditional educational institutions of Muslim like Madrasas,
Maktabs and Darul Uloom into mainstream education.
Madarsa Accredited With NIOS
Type of Institutes |
No. of Centres (as on Feb
2021) |
Accredited Institutes (AI) |
146 |
Accredited Agencies (AA) |
221 |
Accredited Vocational Institutions (AVI) |
47 |
Total |
414 |
Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Providing Quality Education in
Madarsas (SPQEM)
National Policy of Education (NPE), 1986 has adopted the concept
of National System of Education, implying that up to a certain
level of students irrespective of caste ,creed, language or sex
have education of comparable quality. The national policy on
education commits itself to provide all possible means for the
upliftment of the educationally backward Minorities. In order to
provide them with access to education in modern subjects the
central Government has been implementing the Madarsa Modernization
Scheme. The National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education
(NMCME) was constituted in 2004 to look into all aspects of
education of Minorities. The Expert Committee has suggested that
Madrasa be provided a linkage with the National Institute of Open
Schooling (NIOS) to provide for certification of academic levels,
linkage with Vocational Education, improving the quality of
education in modern subjects.
The objective of the scheme is to encourage traditional
institutes like Maktab, Madrasa and Dar-ul-Uloom to introduce
Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and English in their
curriculum. Maktab, Madrasa and Dar-ul-Uloom can opt to become
accredited study centre with the National Institute of Open
Schooling for offering secondary/Sr. Secondary level programmes as
well. The scheme also will seek to provide opportunities for
Vocational Training for children studying in Madrasa opting to
enter the job market and encourage entrepreneurship. Madrasas can
also opt for Vocational Courses offered by NIOS after fulfilling
norms and standard set by NIOS. The Scheme is a demand driven
scheme.
Madrasas which have been in existence at least for three years
and registered under central or state government acts or Madrasa
Board shall be eligible for apply for accreditation under his
programme. All Madrasas opting to be covered by open and distance
education mode and availing of government grant will need to be
accredited with NIOS.
Roll of NIOS :
With a view to provide quality modern education to the Muslim
Minority, several exemptions have been provided for accreditation
to the Madrasas to function as Study Centre of NIOS. The Madrasas
have been exempted from paying accreditation fee of Rs. 20,000/-.
The UDISE code number is essential for relaxation.
In order to oprationalize the Scheme for Providing
Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM), full exemption of
fees is granted to Muslim learners enrolled through accredited
Madrasas to the NIOS courses. Under the SPQEM Scheme,
Madrasa/Maktab/Darul-uloom can opt for accredited Study Center with
NIOS for offering Secondary/Sr. Secondary level programmes.
Madrasas which have been in existence for a minimum period of three
(03) years and affiliated with Central or State Education Acts or
Madrasa Board would be eligible to apply for accreditation under
this programme. NIOS courses have been made available in Urdu
medium both at Secondary and Senior Secondary level for the benefit
of such learners, who are having Urdu background. Arabic and
Persian subjects have also been introduced at Senior Secondary
School curriculum in addition to the existing eight subjects in the
language category.
The admission process in NIOS is 100%- on-line. The On-line
admission has been implemented for Madarsa through NIOS official
portal www.nios.ac.in . This has enabled the Madrasa to enroll
their learners through online mode. Under SPQEM, the admission and
examination fees are exempted for the learners of Minority
registered through accredited Madarsa in On-Line admission subject
to having UDISE number.