Karnataka: 3 Muslim-run schools granted permission to open Pre-University colleges

Other applications

Muslims Educational Institution Federation (MEIF) president Mosabba Jokatte said that while three schools have been permitted to launch PU colleges, the documentation of the other 10 are being verified by the district officials of the Education Department.

MEIF is a federation of 135 schools and 32 PU colleges across the two coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

Reacting to chatter about the hijab controversy being the reason Muslim-run schools are seeking to open PU colleges, Jokatte told South First: “There were many pending requests of schools to open PU colleges; financial reasons and the pandemic were the reasons for the delay.”

“After continuous efforts in the past few years, these schools have received permission to open PU colleges.”

‘Nothing to do with Hijab controversy’

Manshar English Medium School is one of the three schools that received the nod of the education department to open a PU College.

Manshar’s management official Hyder Marthala told South First, “We have been functioning for last 12 years and in we got permission to open a PU college in our third attempt.”

Brushing aside the hijab controversy as a trigger behind the spree of PU college openings, Marthala said: “The hijab restriction created a turmoil largely in government educational institutions; most of the private institutions remained untouched by it.”

The coastal districts were at the centre of the hijab controversy which erupted towards the end of 2021.