Muslim schools in Mumbai Desecularization, privatization and segregation of education in urban India

In the early 2000s Muslim schools received ample attention. Often lacking a thorough empirical basis, three assumptions dominated the discourse in reports on these schools: all Muslim schools are madrasas, teach fundamentalist ideologies, and are selected because parents have no other options. In this study, these assumptions are tested for the urban Indian context. It asks: What are Muslim schools in Mumbai really like? Who selects them? Why is the number of Muslim schools in Mumbai growing?
From extensive ethnographic fieldwork it emerged that Muslim schools in Mumbai are a highly diverse group of schools. Certainly not all Muslim schools are madrasas, definitely not all Muslim schools promote fundamentalist ideologies, and parents who select these schools do have other options available to them.
It was further found that Muslim schools in Mumbai share three characteristics: in addition to being religious (or faith-based) schools, they are also private and segregated schools. This formed the basis for the development of an exhaustive typology of Muslim schools. This typology lays a solid foundation for a more integrated analytical framework for Muslim schools in urban India, and faith-based schools more generally.
Fourteen factors related to wider trends of desecularization, privatization and segregation of society were found to create the incentives and possibilities to start or select a Muslim school. These factors were identified and analyzed in their respective historical context. It was found that not all factors are equally important for each school type. Different types of Muslim schools fulfill different needs.