By TwoCircles.net staff reporter

New Delhi: It is a myth that majority of Muslim children attend madrasas. So is the myth that madrasas are encouraging religious fundamentalism. This is evident from the Sachar Committee Report on madrasa education. The report says that only a small portion (4%) of Muslim children attend madrasas. Nationwide this works out to be about 3% of all Muslim children of schoolgoing age.

A common perception is that a large proportion of Muslim children study in madrasas, mostly to get acquainted with the religious discourse and ensure the continuation of Islamic culture and social life. A persistent belief, nurtured in the absence of statistical data and evidence, is that Muslim parents have a preference for religious education. It is also alleged that madrasa education encourages religious extremism and creates a sense of alienation among Muslim youths. But the figures have belied all these.

One reason for the misconception is that people do not distinguish between madrasas and maktabs. While madarsas provide education (religious and/or regular), maktabs are neighborhood schools, often attached to mosques, that provide religious education to children who attend other schools to get mainstream education. Thus maktabs provide part-time religious education.