Muslims' enrollment in higher studies: South India way up than North

New Delhi: A study titled “State of Muslim Education in India” found that the rate of Muslim students getting enrolled in higher education is very high compared to those in northern states. In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc., despite the high Muslim population, enrolment in higher education is significantly low, The Wire reported.

The study was published by former professor Arun C Mehta, who was leading the Educational Management Information System (EMIS) at the National University of Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA)

The study analysed the 2020-21 and 2021-22 data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE Plus) – the largest school education database – and the 2020-21 data from the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). Both databases are under the supervision of the Union Ministry of Education, The Wire report states.

In the year 2016-17, 39,218 Muslim students enrolled in higher education in the southern states and union territories. This increased to 21,00,860 students in 2019-20.

But the following year, there was an 8.53 per cent decline in enrollment after the figure was 19,21,713. This was a drop of 1,79,147.

The Muslim students’ Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) national average between the age group 18 and 23 was 8.41 per cent. Women performed well with a higher GER of 9.43% compared to males’ 8.44%.

Further, the GER of Muslim students in seven southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana – and UTs were higher.

Telangana topped the chart with a GER of nearly 34%, followed by Tamil Nadu, which lies at around 28%, the study inferred. Kerala, however, recorded that 20% of Muslim students made it to higher studies. But women performed well here, too, with 25 per cent, leaving a huge 10 per cent margin against males.-

Karnataka follows Kerala with 15.78 per cent of students enrolled from the Muslim community, while Andhra Pradesh bottomed the list with a mere 10 per cent enrollment. The 2011 census said that Andhra Pradesh has a Muslim population share of 9.56 per cent.

Among southern union territories, 25 per cent of Muslim students of Puducherry were found enrolled in higher studies as compared to a meagre of over 4 per cent in Lakshadweep. In the case of Lakshadweep, the rate is very low despite the predominantly Muslim population there, which is more than 96 per cent.

The northern states, the study mentioned, include nine states and a UT. They are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Delhi.

Here, all of the mentioned have an average of 7 per cent enrolment of Muslim students in higher studies. This is lower by a large margin, compared to the 19 per cent average of their southern counterparts.