Acting on a directive from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Gujarat education department conducted a survey and found that over 7,000 children enrolled in madrassas were not receiving conventional schooling.
The statewide survey of 1,300 madrassas revealed that more than 80,000 students were receiving madrassa education. Among them, approximately 7,000 attended only madrassas, while the rest were enrolled in both madrassas and regular schools.
Bhavnagar has the highest number of children solely attending madrassas with 1,400 students, followed by Banaskantha with 1,100, and Kutch with 600.
The survey also found that there are 237 children over six years old at 160 madrassas in Ahmedabad city, for whom there was no available information on whether they were enrolled in formal schools.
To integrate these students into the formal education system, the education department has issued a notification instructing the commissioner of schools and the director of primary education to engage with parents during the upcoming Shala Praveshotsav (school enrollment) drive in June.
A senior government source noted that the actual number of children attending madrassas might be higher and mentioned reports of resistance during the survey, with authorities being denied entry to 39 madrassas. District education officers (DEOs) and district primary education officers (DPEOs) have been instructed to prioritize providing this information.