Thanks to scholarships, more Muslims in schools

A government scholarship programme for minorities has been a sell-out, putting over 5 million students in schools and colleges in the last year alone, a record, official figures show.

A government scholarship programme for minorities has been a sell-out, putting over 5 million students in schools and colleges in the last year alone, a record, official figures show.

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Disadvantaged Muslims often flock to traditional madrassas because they are free. Officials of the minority affairs ministry say they had to stretch their scholarship targets for 2010-11 because of surging demand — an indication that poor Muslims are not averse to modern education if the means are available.

In 2010-11, over 500,000 students secured post-matric scholarships designed for higher education, exceeding the target by 100,000. More girls than boys qualified (51%).

The crucial leap, however, has come in the form of pre-matric scholarships, aimed at school enrolment. In 2010-11, 4.4 million went to school on these scholarships, while the target was 2 million. Of these, 48.15 % were girls.

“The figures belie cynicism about intention and delivery,” said minority affairs ministry Salman Khurshid.

The 2006 Sachar report had found Muslims make up only 4% of undergraduates and 25% do not attend school or drop out, largely for financial reasons.

To address this, the minority affairs ministry started three-tier scholarships, right from junior school up to doctorate-level. Another one million minority students are now pursuing either a technical or professional course under the merit-cum-means scholarship. Khurshid said the supply-demand situation would become stable in three years.