UP madarsas can no longer award college degrees. Here’s what changes

Under the amended framework, the Board will continue to oversee madarsa education up to the Class 12-equivalent level, including courses such as “Munshi, Maulvi and Alim”, an official said.

The Kamil and Fazil courses, which fall in the higher education category, will now have to be brought under a framework governed by the higher education system.

Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari told The Indian Express that the changes were necessitated by the apex court order.

“The Supreme Court had made it clear that Kamil and Fazil, being higher education courses, cannot remain under the Madarsa Board. The necessary amendments have now been approved in accordance with the judgment,” Ansari said, addi that Government

Government officials said the state is working on the mechanism through which Kamil and Fazil courses would be governed in the future.

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University in Lucknow is among the institutions being considered as part of the higher education framework, they said.

The officials added that fresh admissions to Kamil and Fazil courses have not taken place since the 2024 judgment, pending changes to the regulatory framework.

The Supreme Court’s November 2024 order came on appeals against the Allahabad High Court’s March 2024 judgment, which had struck down the UP Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004.

While reversing the High Court’s order and upholding the Act, the Supreme Court carved out an exception for Kamil and Fazil, ruling that provisions allowing the Madarsa Board to regulate higher education degrees were unconstitutional.

The Cabinet approval now paves the way for the state to formally remove Kamil and Fazil from the Madarsa Board’s higher education jurisdiction and devise a separate mechanism for these courses.