New Delhi, August 19: Muslims’ enrolment at secondary level of education is less than that of the scheduled castes, a government survey has indicated.
Giving this information in Rajya Sabha in a written reply, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that the report of 64th Round (2007-08) of National Sample Survey (NSS) indicates that Muslims’ enrolment at secondary level is 10.2 per cent of the total enrolments.
The survey said that the same for the scheduled castes (SC) and other backward classes (OBC) is 11.3 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively.
The enrolment of the scheduled tribes (ST) at the secondary level of education is 9.8 per cent, which is 0.4 per cent lower than even that of the Muslims.
Only five per cent of Muslims attend educational institutions at secondary level in urban area. This is lower in rural areas, where only 4.5 per cent enrol at this level.
These are as per the 2007-08 figures, while the Sachar Commission, which had gone into the issue of socio-economic condition of Muslims, had taken into account figures from the 55th Round (1999-2000) and 61st Round (2004-05) of National Sample Survey (NSS) painting a grim picture of educational status of the community.
Justice Ranganath Misra Commission, which suggested remedial measures including reservation for Muslims and other minorities to uplift their socio-economic conditions, had used the data of the 55th Round (1999-2000) of the NSS and 2001 Census.
–Agencies–