23 Jan 2008, 0045 hrs
IST,Akshaya
Mukul,TNN
Muslim enrolment just 9% in primary schools: Study
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NEW
DELHI: Comprising more than 13% of Indian population,
Muslim enrolment at the primary level (class I-V) was a
meagre 9.39% while in upper primary (class VI-VIII) it was
7.52% in 2006-07. The data of Muslim enrolment in schools,
collected for the first time, only confirms what the
Sachar Committee report indicated about their educational
status. The survey, conducted by the National University
of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) for HRD
ministry, shows that in Muslim-dominated states like UP,
Bihar, West Bengal and Kerala, the community needs a giant
leap to make it to the mainstream. Assam, J&K, Andhra
Pradesh and to some extent West Bengal are the only
exceptions.
However, sources point out
that since this is the first time that data on Muslims has
been calculated, there is a probability of some data
infirmity.
Also, it is possible that a
few states could have included enrolment of OBC Muslim
students in the OBC figures rather than factoring them
separately. There is also a chance that a few schools did
not report Muslim enrolment figures. "A clearer picture
would emerge from next year," one official said. NUEPA's
education statistics released on Tuesday also shows that
enrolment percentage of SCs/STs/OBCs has not changed much
since the previous years. But there has been a change in
the overall ranking of states on the basis of Educational
Development Index.
The EDI - based on
indicators like access, infrastructure, teachers and
outcomes in both primary and upper primary level -
introduced last year, shows that Kerala remains the top
state for the second consecutive year, but, Puducherry has
climbed up two steps and is now in the second position.
Delhi has come down to third from the second slot. Tamil
Nadu has come down to the fourth position from last year's
third slot, while Andhra Pradesh has fallen four positions
- down from eighth to 12th.
Even Karnataka has come down
to the eighth slot from sixth last year. States like
Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh
continue to hover - a few notches up and down - among the
bottom of the heap. As for Muslim enrolment, in J&K with
66.97% Muslims, their enrolment is 62.52% at the primary
level and 60.55% in upper primary classes. Assam with
30.92% of Muslim population has also done well. Here
enrolment in primary schools is 30.42% but comes down
significantly in upper primary to stand at 17.39%. Andhra
Pradesh has 9.17% Muslim population and enrolment in
primary level is 10% and upper primary 9.11%. West Bengal
seems to have caught up.
With Muslim population of
over 25%, enrolment in primary is 27.92% but comes down to
19.63% in upper primary classes. Kerala has 24.7% Muslim
population but enrolment is pathetic - at 10.13% at the
primary level and 9.59% in the upper primary level.
(akshaya.mukul@timesgroup.com)
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