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| Muslim school rate abysmal | | |
New Delhi, Nov. 14
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 per cent 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.
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