ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ENROLMENT OF MUSLIM KIDS WORSE THAN OBCS, SCS: STUDY

The data, released by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), suggests that the enrolment of Muslim children at the elementary level is nowhere near the national average. With a 10.49% enrolment in elementary schools, Muslims fare worse than the OBCs (42.26%) and the SCs (19.72%). In the Hindi-speaking states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) as well as in Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, the gap in enrolment of Muslims at the elementary level to the proportion of
their population is higher. Further, the comparison of enrolment at elementary level between the
SCs, OBCs and Muslims shows that the OBCs and SCs are doing much better than Muslims. During a study conducted in the Muslim localities of Delhi by the Centre of Media Studies (Social), it was observed that in areas where schools were available, they were found to be inadequate to the proportion of the population of the localities. It was also observed that due to insufficient open spaces in these localities, there was no scope to open new schools. Alternative arrangements such as mobile schools may address the problem.