ASIAN AGE NEWSPAPER REPORT

Muslim school rate abysmal
- By Rakesh K. Singh

The Asian Age Newspaper

New Delhi, 13 Nov. 2006: A Planning Commission report says that 12 per cent of Muslim children in the age group of six to 13 years do not attend school at all and only a marginal percentage of the community makes it to university.

The report, prepared by the sub-group on education for minorities, has been submitted to the convenor of the working group on empowerment of minorities for the 11th Five-Year Plan, Zoya Hassan. The working committee on empowerment of minorities was constituted by the Planning Commission following the announcement of a 15-point development programme for minorities by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. About 50 per cent of Muslim children in rural areas and one third of the community’s children in urban areas remain illiterate. The enrolment ratios for secondary and higher secondary education stand at 15 per cent and five per cent respectively, both significantly lower than the national average, according to the report of the sub-group on education of minorities.

The report of the working group on empowerment of minorities for the 11th Five Year Plan will have far-reaching consequences because the committee was set up by the Planning Commission, which is a constitutional body, as against the Sachar Committee, which has statutory status and was constituted by the Prime Minister. The Planning Commission deputy chairperson, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who enjoys the rank of a Cabinet minister, has direct access to the Prime Minister, who heads the Central planning body.

The report says that 1.3 percent of the males and 0.3 per cent of the females from the community in the rural areas make it to the level of graduation. Only 5.1 per cent of Muslim males and just 2.5 per cent of females from the community in urban areas make it to higher education, The national average for higher education stands at eight per cent of the total population.

"The level of Muslims in various stages of school and college education is the lowest among all religious groups in India. Net enrolment rates of Muslim children in the age group of 6-10 years is around 65 per cent, but the same is reduced to one third in the 11-14 age bracket," said the chairperson of the sub-group on education for minorities, Dr Vimal Thorat, citing the report, and added that the level of education among Muslims is "chintajanak (worrisome)".

According to the 1999-2000 figures, 70 per cent of Muslim children in rural areas attended school at the primary level but the percentage drops drastically to 11.5 per cent at the higher secondary level. Likewise, the figures for urban areas suggest that only 27.9 per cent of the 72.5 per cent carry on till the higher secondary level.

The sub-group on education includes Dr Sachidanand Sinha of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ms Janaki Rajan of Jamia Millia Islamia, and Ms Farah Naqvi and Mr Jamal Ali from voluntary organisations.

Focus on Muslim literacy
- By Our Correspondent

The Asian Age Newspaper

New Delhi, 13 Nov. 2006: The Union ministry of human resource development will place special focus on improving the literacy rates of Muslim children in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. All four states have a Muslim literacy rate lower than the state literacy rates.

In a statistic released by the ministry on Monday, it was revealed that 7.82 lakh children were out of school in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 6.22 lakh in Bihar and 3.87 lakhs in West Bengal.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project of the ministry is already placing special focus on Muslim children, by trying to include them in the literacy programmes with special initiatives. This includes reaching out to recognised and unrecognised madrasas and setting up of alternative and innovative education centres.

A sanction has been provided by the ministry for enrolment of 11.25 Lakh students under such centres in the four states.

Efforts are also being made to cover madrasas and makhtabs affiliated to the state madarsa boards.

According to government figures, 6,918 new primary and upper primary schools have been sanctioned in minority dominated districts during 2006-2007, 32,250 centres under Education Guarantee Scheme with a total enrolment of 120.90 lakh children have been sanctioned for 2006/07.

Special focus has also been laid on the 93 districts that have more than 20 per cent Muslim population. As part of the project, more madarsas will be brought under the government funds.

"From 2006, onwards, the category minority (Muslims) is being included in the reporting of enrolment from each school in the country under the District Information System for Education database of SSA," the ministry said.

Insecurity among Muslims increases
- By Rakesh K. Singh

New Delhi, 12 Nov. 2006: Ghettoisation and insecurity has increased among the Muslims after the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi complex in 1992 and as a result the percentage of children from the community attending school and university has significantly gone down, said Dr Vimal Thorat, chairperson of working group on empowerment of minorities for the 11th Five Year Plan.

The report of the Planning Commission’s sub group on education of minorities mentions that the enrolment ratio for secondary and higher education in the community is 15 per cent and the figures for higher education is just five per cent, both significantly below the national average. While enrolment rate for secondary education at the national level is 65 per cent, the same stands at eight per cent for higher education.

"Poor enrolment, low retention and high drop out rates both at school and college levels are salient features of educational development in India, but, the Muslims are far more marginalised than other social and religious groups," the report said.

According to the report, while 38.6 per cent of Muslim male in rural areas were illiterate as per 1999-2000 figures, the Hindus under the category fared better at 31.8 per cent.

Those who attended school till the primary level among the rural Muslims touched 40 per cent in contrast to 37 per cent of the Hindus. However, 15.7 per cent of the Hindus made it to the middle level schooling as against 12.1 per cent of the Muslims.

The figures for the secondary and higher secondary level show that 12.8 per cent of the Hindus completed their schooling as against only eight per cent from the Muslim community. Only 1.3 per cent of the Muslim male in the rural areas made it to the level of graduation and above in contrast to 2.7 per cent of the Hindus in the category.

Apart from the insecurity and ghettoisation, cultural factors among the Muslim community like wearing veil by women also contributed to a lower percentage of its population making it to higher secondary and higher education, Mr Thorat said. The committee has recommended radical changes in "madrassa" education like incorporating mathematics, science and social sciences to the tune of 75 per cent of the course curriculum and restricting the teaching of religious scriptures to just 25 per cent.

Besides, a proposal for providing monthly stipend to the students has also been recommended. Further, creation of infrastructure like school and colleges near the hamlets of the minority community has also been recommended.