Causative factors for dropout among middle class muslim families

1

CAUSATIVE FACTORS FOR DROPOUT AMONG MIDDLE CLASS

MUSLIM FAMILIES: A STUDY FROM KOTHAWA.

A

Dissertation Submitted

To

MSW Programme,

Dept. of Sociology,

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the degree of

Master of Social Work

Research Guide: Researcher:

Ms. Rekha Mistry Shaikh Mo. Arifalam Mo. S

Assistant Professor,

Master of Social Work,

Dept of sociology,V.N.S.G.U., Surat

2009 - 2011

2

A

Study of

CAUSATIVE FACTORS FOR DROPOUT AMONG MIDDLE

CLASS

MUSLIM FAMILIES: A STUDY FROM KOTHAWA.

Submitted To:

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University

As the fulfillment of

Master of Social Work

Submitted By:

Shaikh Mohammad Arifalam Mohammad Sultan

MSW Programme,

Department of Sociology

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University,

Surat – 395 007

Gujarat

3

Declaration

I declare that the Dissertation entitled “Causative factors for

dropout among middle class Muslim families: A study from kothawa

“is a record of independent research work carried out by

me under the supervision and guidance of Ms.Rekha

Mistry. This work has not been submitted to any other

University/Institution for any Degree/Diploma.

Student:

(Shaikh Mohammad Arifalam Mohammad Sultan)

Research Guide: Head:

Ms.Rekha Mistry Dr. Parvez Abbasi

Assistant Professor, Professor & Head

Master of Social Work, Dept. of Sociology,

Dept. of sociology. V.N.S.G.U., Surat

V.N.S.G.U., Surat

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Acknowledgement

My first and most heartily gratitude goes to the almighty ALLAH who blesses to all for his

divine throughout my life, this MSW programme and this dissertation.

At this juncture, when I am submitting my dissertation, I honestly feel that this report of study

would not have been possible without the support guidance, critique and direction of those who

are associated with my academic and personal life.

Foremost I would extend my respect and gratitude to Dr. Parvez Abbasi, HOD of Department of

Sociology, Veer Narmad South Guharat University, Suarat, whose advises are very helpful for

my dissertation and his concern for the students has always made me perform better

confidentiality and Coordinator of the MSW Programme Mr. BahadurShinh Vasava for his

valuable advice and co-operation during the dissertation.

I acknowledge my deep indebtedness to my research guide Ms. Rekha Mistry who despite of

her busy schedule spare time for me and guided my throughout my studying and my dear

respected guide helped me at the time of any difficulty. And other faculty, Mr. Shital

Tamakuwala for her constant motivation and guidance which kept encourages me.

And my special thanks for our field-Coordinator Ms. Rujal Bhatt for her precious support and

help during dissertation.

Then I deeply thanks to all my classmate friends and hostel friends whom unforgettable support

and motivation and I specially thanks to Gosai Piyush, Gamit Piyush, Fulwadiya Fyaz, Gohil

Ruchi and juniors like Gmit Hitesh and Vasoya Payal for their valuable support which I never

forget, thanks to all my friends.

Last but not the least I thank to all my respondents without them this study can’t be possible and

my I thank to all my family members for their support, motivation, courage for the study.

Shaikh Mo. Arifalam Mo. S.

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Index

Sr.No Topic Page no

*

Acknowledgment

I

*

List of Tables & Charts

III-IV

1

Introduction

1-33

2

Review of literature

34-65

3

Data Analysis & Interpretation

66-98

4

Major Findings

99-102

5

Conclusion & suggestions

103-104

6

Bibliography

105

7

Appendix

106-111

6

LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHART Table no Content Page no

1 Family 66

2 Occupation 67

3 Income 68

4 Family Income

69

5 Children are getting education 70

6 No. of children dropped education in the family

71

7 Gender of children who dropped education 72

8 No. of male child drop out in the family

73

9 No. of female child drop out in the family

74

10 Drop out after the standards

75

11 Past scholastic performance

76

12 Personal reasons for leaving school

77

13 Economic Reasons for leaving school

78

14 School related reasons for leaving school

79

15 Social reasons for leaving school

80

16 Religious reasons for leaving school

81

8

17 Child’s activity after dropping out the education

82

18 Type of job

83

19 Wish to go to school

84

20 If yes, then efforts for it

85

21 Advantage of education

86

22 Higher education- a better position in the society

87

23 Impact of higher education on child’s mind

88

24 Type of effects 89

25 Higher education- less religiousness

90

26 Education - change in life

91

27 Types of changes in the life

92

28 Provided vocational education to the child

93

29 Perception about providing vocational education

94

30 Preference to the type of education

95

31 Education - provided to girls

96

32 If yes, then the level of education 97

33 Educated girls - permission to do job

98

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INTRODUCTION

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Introduction The Problem The basic objective of India’s development, according to the Planning Commission, is to provide

masses of the Indian people with opportunities to lead a good life. Since nearly 80 per cent

people live in the rural areas. But when India became a free country, the immediate problem that

the Government had to face is the curse of poverty with all its available resources. Further, since

the society had vertical groupings, some commanding everything in life and some practically

nothing in life, it became the duty of the State to remove this hierarchically inequalities. The

Constitution of India provides for such a situation under the Directive Principles of State Policy

as follows.

“The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as

effectively as it may, a social order in which justice, social, economic and political shall inform

all the institutions of national life”.

The economic approach claimed priority in poor nations for aiming to increase the ability of

the marginalized to buy food, clothing and shelter.

The role of education in facilitating social and economic progress is well accepted today. The

ability of a nation’s population to learn and perform in an environment where scientific and

technological knowledge is changing rapidly is critical for its growth. While the importance of

human capital and its augmentation for a nation’s development cannot be under-emphasized, its

micro-economic consequences also need to be acknowledged. Improvements in the functional

and analytical ability of children and youth through education open up opportunities leading to

both individual and group entitlements. Improvements in education are not only expected to

enhance efficiency (and therefore earnings) but also augment democratic participation, upgrade

health and quality of life.

At the time of adopting the Constitution the Indian state had committed itself to provide

elementary education under Article 45 of the Directive Principles of State policy. Article 45

stated that “The State shall endeavor to provide within a period of ten years from the

commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they

complete the age of fourteen years.” In 1993, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled

that the right to education is a fundamental right flowing from the Right to Life in Article 21 of

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the Constitution. Subsequently in 2002 education as a fundamental right was endorsed through

the 86th amendment to the Constitution. Article 21-A states that “The State shall provide free

and compulsory education to all children of the age six to fourteen years in such a way as the

State may, by law, determine.” The 86th Amendment also modified Article 45 which now reads

as

“The state shall endeavor to provide early childhood care and education for all children

until they complete the age of 6 years”.

However, despite this commitment the number of children in this age group who have

remained out of school is alarmingly large.

“The State shall provide free and

Compulsory education to all children of the age six to fourteen years... ”

(Art. 21 A)

The successive governments have vacillated on enacting the Right to Education Bill despite the

fact that Article 21-A makes it the responsibility of the State to provide free and compulsory

education to every child. Since education is a concurrent subject, both the State and Central

governments are responsible for it. By not passing the required legislation for Right to

Education, the Central governments have abdicated their responsibility. As a consequence the

educational conditions of the children of India remain precarious.

The education of Muslims in India it shows that Muslims are at a double disadvantage with low

levels of education combined with low quality education; their deprivation increases manifold as

the level of education rises. In some instances the relative share for Muslims is lower than even

the SCs who are victims of a long standing caste system. Such relative deprivation calls for a

significant policy shift, in the recognition of the problem and in devising corrective measures, as

well as in the allocation of resources. Here focuses on the differentials in levels of educational

achievement amongst India’s Socio-religious Communities (SRCs). The availability of Census

data on educational attainments by religion for the first time since Independence has enabled the

Committee to examine the temporal trends in educational attainments.

Human Development Survey, 2004-05 provides provisional estimates NSSO data (2004-05).

These figures were compared with the 55th round (1999-00) to examine the trend in attendance

rates overtime. It can be seen that there has been a significance increase in the current enrolment

and attendance rates for all communities. The increase has been the highest among ST/SCs

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(95%), followed by Muslims (65%). In 1999-00 Muslims had the lowest enrolment rate among

all communities, except SCs/STs and this and this rate was 78% of the average enrolment rate

for the population as whole. In 2004-05 the Muslim enrolment rate was slightly higher than that

of the OBCs but was somewhat lower the average enrolment rate. A State-wise analysis reveals

reasonably high enrolment rates amongst Muslim children in most states. In Kerala, Karnataka,

Delhi, Maharastra, and some other states. The enrolment rates among Muslims are higher than

the State average. On the other hand, in states like Utter Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and

Uttranchal enrolment rates are very low (below 70% of the State average). In fact, in Uttar

Pradesh, Jharkhand and Andra Pradesh enrolment rates for Muslims children are lower than all

others. The NCAER estimates of current enrolment rates are lower than the NSSO estimates. The

deference between the Muslims (74%) and the remaining population (83%) in much sharper.

Development aims at not only increased income, but also change in the institutional structures.

Many think that development consists of mostly material items. But there are others who include

social and the non-material dynamics as well.

If development objectives are to be executed successfully with efficiency and effectiveness there

should be a planned approach. It is for this reason that the Government of India set up the

Planning Commission. About six decades ago the First Five Year Plan was inaugurated. Since

the socio-economic development of the rural areas is of crucial significance in the framework of

integrated group and social justice, the Community development was a comprehensive self-help

movement which embraced multi-phased development.

After some years of experience, it was found that Community Development had failed in its

goal because of certain inherent defect and therefore, Rural Development programmes were

started. And again, Rural Development programmes are replaced by Integrated Rural

Development Programmes (IRDP).

Conceptually, Integrated Rural Development means multi-phased development of rural economy

by exploiting to the optimum local resources in men, material, land and water. It includes

agriculture, cottage and small industries, health and family welfare, education and social welfare,

etc. Though the term economic development has been used for a long time, whenever the issue

of development is taken up in India, social elements have always been included in the concept of

development. Thus in Indian situation development includes economic aspects and social

aspects. India’s plans were drawn up within the frame of political change. Together democracy,

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economic development and social change. Together, these pointed to three closely related

objectives: (1) the pursuit of welfare; (2) the search for equality; and (3) the desire for more even

distribution of economic power.

The importance of education for rural development was also stressed. Two aspects of education

are central to economic development; general education for the masses of the people and training

for specific vocations and professions. Today India is the second biggest market in the world and

also one of the fastest developing countries but if India has to make full fast development, the

biggest for it is the education, through education backward communities also get developed too

fast. The education helps not only in economical life but in social, cultural and healthy life also.

It is thus clear that the main purpose of India’s rural development programmes is to bring about

radical changes in the socio-economic conditions of the people. Further, it is also evident that the

main emphasis is on removal of inequalities and promotes integration among different sections

of the population. Of the several sections of the rural population, Muslims constitute one

important segment.

Muslims in Indian States The conditions of Muslims in the princely State of Mysore have not been either studied or

reported anywhere. Thus it is a real problem to assess the changes in conditions of the Muslims

during the post-independence period. However, the census reports provide certain evidences on

the demographic and literacy position of the Muslims. Economic status of the Muslims is

conspicuously absent all along. A brief review of data available from the Census Report is

presented here.

The demographical position of the Muslims in the Indian polity ensures a significant role to be

played by them. To-day they constitute 11.21 per cent of the population of the country. They are

spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. In some States they constitute a

formidable size of population. In Laccadive and Minicoy islands they form 94% of the total

population. Jammu and Kashmir has 66 per cent. In Assam we find 24 per cent. Twenty per cent

population of Kerala and West Bengal consists of Muslims.

In the India nearly 13,81,88,240 of the total population are Muslims. Further 8,87,94,744 of the

rural population and 4,93,93,496 of the urban population consists of Muslims (Census 2001).

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Middle Class Family

The 'middle class' is an over-used expression and difficult to pin down, since it is defined not just

in terms of income, but also as values, cultural affinities, lifestyles, educational attainments and

service sector employment. Using income, one way of defining middle class is in terms of how

much of income is left over for discretionary expenditure, after paying for food and shelter. If

more than one-third is left, that qualifies one for inclusion in the 'middle class'. The middle class

of India is for whom most of the advertising is targeted.

The middle class Indian normally lives in a fixed income. He has to manage his finance in a rigid

budget. He wife selects reasonably good furnishings and uses modern cooking gadgets. He

usually has a two-wheeler of this own. He aspires for the well-to-do lifestyle he sees on TV. So

his purchases are generally materialistic in nature. Because of this he likes to make large

purchases and pay for though the different credit facilities that are made available to him by the

banks and other financial institutions.

Present Education Scenario in India

Today in India the ambition of Middle Class and Poor students to undergo Higher and Technical

education is becoming a dream due to the huge amount of fees charged by the money minded

Private Colleges. Postgraduate Courses are mostly self financed and the fee per year for MBA,

MCA, M. Sc courses is more than Rs.20, 000/- per semester depending upon the state and

reputation of the College. So for two year M. Sc courses a student has to spend minimum Rs.50,

000/- for tuition fees besides the huge Hostel fees and this are out of reach to Middle

Class/Lower Middle Class Muslim students. Even for Prospectus of MBA and MCA courses the

private colleges are charging Rs.350/- to Rs.1000/- depending upon the institute. If a Middle

Class student has to apply for more than one course means he has to face financial problems. In a

country where majority of people are groaning under the weight of poverty, hunger and

increasing prices how the middle class Indian people will pay huge amounts for higher and

Technical education.

In the Krishna district and neighbour Guntur, West Godavari Districts (In Andhra Pradesh) there

are considerable Muslim Population. If one observes closely they will find the number of people

15

going for Technical, Higher education is very less because of their financial problems and large

families. Most of the Muslim students are stopping their education after Middle School and

settling in self employment schemes like Motor Cycle repairing, Welding, Tailoring etc. We

wanted to help this neglected people by helping to study Higher and Technical education.

Definition of Dropout:

Gaustad (1991) reports that the definition of a dropout varies widely, with different states,

districts, and even schools within districts using the term differently. For example, some districts

may not include students who drop out over the summer, or who leave school to get married,

while others do include them in the dropout total. In addition, some districts may keep more

complete records than others. For example, some districts follow up on students who do not

return after the summer to determine whether or not they are enrolled in other schools, while

other districts do not. Other variations may include whether or not certain types of non-

traditional students (i.e., those who leave regular high school before graduation to enter

correctional institutions, enroll in GED programs, or enter college) are counted as dropouts until

they have completed an equivalency program (McMillen et. al., 1994).

Dropout rates are about the same for males and females, but the rates are not the same for

students from different ethnic groups or different income levels. In general, rates are higher for

minority students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. (1993)

• Social and Economic Situation of Muslim Minority :

At least 58 of every 100 students who enrolled in schools in Gujarat failed to make it to high

school in 2008-09 – that represents the 16th highest dropout rate in the country. This data was

released in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question by Avtarsingh Karimpuri, an MP from Uttar

Pradesh.

Among 29 states and six union territories, Gujarat’s dropout rate of students between class X

ranked 16, at 58.84%, which was higher than the national dropout rate of 55.88% in 2008-09.

Among progressive states, Gujarat fared the worst. Of Gujarat’s girls, 62.25% dropped out and

56.24% was the figure for the boys. Sikkim had the highest dropout rate at 82.26% followed by

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Bihar at 81.5%. However, Gujarat’s dropout rate has shown a tad improvement since 2005-06,

when 60.27% students had dropped out before high school. This was the year when the

government launched the kanya kelavni campaign to improve girls’ enrolment in schools.

Sources in the education department said that most girls studied to class VII, and began dropping

out only between class IX and class X. The data shows that from classes I-VIII, 46.36% boys

dropped out and 40.75% girls dropped out. Education officials say the reason for quitting school

was financial constraints followed by the lack of will of parents to make their children finish

school. Principal Secretary, education, Hasmukh Adhia, said: “Gujarat is taking steps to stop

dropping out. The secondary school enrolment ratio is 61%. We are trying to overcome this and

improve. The government has already started 250 schools in rural areas so that more students

complete secondary schooling.” Gujarat government has launched vidyalaxmi bond and

insurance schemes like vidyadeep to aid children and support families which education their

children (The Times of India-20/4/2011).

In Andhra Pradesh State Government has accorded 5% reservation for Muslim Minority in

Education and in employment in the month of July 2005 which was quashed by Honourable

High Court of Andhra Pradesh (twice). At the time of implementing reservation to Muslim

Minority in Backward Classes “E” Group, Government has issued press release where in the

following points are worth mentioning.

1. The population of Muslim Minority according to 1991 Census is 11 Percent.

2. The study revealed that 65 percent of Muslims are living below the poverty line (i.e., whose

income is below Rs.1000/- per month)

3. The literacy rate among Muslim Minority is 18%.

4. The lowest literacy rate is observed among Muslim women and is only 8%.

5. The study revealed that most of the Muslims are engaged in pretty businesses such as running

Pan Shops, fruits and flowers besides working as labourers.

6. It is pertinent to make a mention that the percentage of Muslim Minority undergoing Higher

Education such as MBA, MCA, and M. Sc courses is only 0.5% which is disproportionate to

their population.

7. India though a Non-Islamic Country has large number of Muslim Minority. According to 2001

Census (data collected before the year 2000), the population of Muslim Minority are

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13,81,88,240 and it clearly tells about the need for proper care about the growing Muslim

Minority in India.

8. The Muslim Minority population is growing at a rate of 34%.

* Justice Rajindar Sachar Committee Report: The said report was tabled before Honourable Parliament of India on 30th November, 2006. The

report clearly stated the necessity to uplift the downtrodden Muslim Minority in India. The report

clearly states the lowest percentage of Muslim Minority in the important places in Government

employment.

1. The percentage of Muslim Minority in Government employment is only 4.9% which is very

less when compared with present population of 150 million Muslim Minority in India.

2. The percentage of Muslims in Security sector i.e., Police, Military, Air Force etc., is only 3.2

which is very low.

3. The percentage of Graduates is only 3.6% which is very low when compared with other

communities where as this percentage is very less in Andhra Pradesh State.

4. 25% of the Muslim Children in the age 6-14 years age group has either never attended School

or has dropped out.

5. The percentage of Muslim Minority in Engineering Education and in Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalayas (Central Government Schools) are very less when compared with other communities.

6. The Sachar Committee also recommended for reservation at par with Scheduled Castes for the

Muslim Groups known as Arzals who are mostly working as butchers, washer man, barbers and

Scavengers.

7. The report also stressed the need for infrastructure, health care facilities, and pucca roads for

the areas where Muslims are living because most of the Muslims are living in slum areas.

8. The Report clearly recommended reducing the wide gap between Muslims and other

communities.

*The Sachar Committee’s Views:

Education is the only way to increase the living standards of our Muslim Community and also

education will equip with the skills to earn one’s livelihood.

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• The very purpose of education is to enhance the quality of life and life management

systems. Also to increase the literacy the Muslim youth will not fall in the hands of the

fundamentalists.

1. Education among Muslim women is very less. If mother is properly educated, she will guide

her children in their career.

2. The Muslim Minority are discontinuing their studies mostly after Middle School and settling

in self employment schemes like Tailoring, Motor Cycle Repairing, Welding shops etc. This is

mainly because of their inability to pay for education.

3. The number of Muslim Minority Higher Educational Colleges to take of the poverty sicken

Muslim Minority are very few in number. There are good numbers of Engineering Colleges

opened for Muslim Minority throughout the country but they cannot help the Muslim Minority

because in these colleges, they can provide Seats to Muslim Minority but the fee is similar to that

in Private Unaided Colleges and is Rs.25000 or more depending upon the State Government.

4. If anybody can kindly help the Society, the committee will be able to obtain government aid

for payment of staff salaries of the Proposed Muslim Minority College so that the fee will be

very less and nominal.

5. Muslim Minority Colleges run on non-profit basis to take of the growing Muslim community

in India.

6. There are only two Universities to take care of the Muslim Minority in India. They are Aligarh

Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamic. But for Christian Minority, good numbers of

Deemed Universities have been established by Christian Missionaries – Satya Bhama University,

Allahabad Agricultural University etc. (more than eight Deemed Universities – self financed by

the Missionaries).

The Sachar Committee’s Commitment to help Muslim Students:

The Proposed College will be a Non Profit making Institution.

The proposed fees are much below the fees charged by even Government aided Colleges.

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• It is our Prime Objective to run the Institution on totally virtuous highly disciplined lines

without giving scope for any evil practices or habits maintaining silence during study

hours and highly appreciable elegancies and manners with pleasant and congenial

Climate.

• 24 hours Laboratory and Library facilities will be provided.

• Besides giving good coaching we will concentrate on building good character in students

who are future citizens of India.

• Unlike other Higher Education colleges, we will introduce Dress Code in our College in

order to promote the sense of belongingness and equality.

Educational development: perception, problems and motivation In the earlier chapter on “Educational Status”, the responses of the Muslims have been examined

and the results indicate that the progress is very poor. Educational development is dependent on

many socio-cultural factors, besides economic conditions, values, attitudes, motivation, etc.,

have profound influences over the participants. Similarly, certain problems inherent in the

system of education or the participants themselves curb advancement. A brief analysis of these

issues is presented here.

Secular and theological education: Human development is the product of social life. Social interactions bring about tremendous

changes in the behavioural aspects of people. Muslims live in a country where there is cultural

pluralism. They have to adjust their social life both in accordance with the principles of their

own religion and the norms and values of the broader Indian Society. This requires, therefore,

both secular and religious education. The views of the respondents on these issues are discussed

here.

Secular Education It is further observed form the table that while 46 percent respondents desire education not more

than upper primary for girls, only 24 percent desire this level for boys. Though about one-fourth

of the respondents desired high school education, there is not much difference in their opinion

about the need for boys and girls. But so far as college education is concerned, the difference in

the parents desire is too wide. While just 26 percent respondents want college education for girls,

50 percent desire it for boys.

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The information obtained on theological education is significantly different. Though almost all

the respondents want theological education for boys and girls their desire is confined to basic

level only. Those who desire proficiency in theological education are almost negligible.

It is interesting to understand the basic philosophy behind the desire for certain levels of secular

and theological education. The respondents are fully aware of the importance of Muslim

development. It is not just a question of importance or significance of one at the cost of the other.

To the majority of them the basic understanding of the Muslim way of life is that a Muslim has

to lead a comfortable life in this world and prepare himself for a comfortable life in the other

world. While secular education prepares him to meet the routine requirements of a mortal,

theological education acts as an agent of social control over the affairs of the individual. The fear

was that certain activities of Muslims would be detrimental not only to the society as a whole but

also to the Muslims themselves. Theological education helps a man with secular education to

adjust himself to the realities of the society and conduct himself in the best interest of all.

As already pointed out, there is hardly any difference on the levels of theological education for

boys and girls. But what is more significant about theological education is that, as already

pointed out there is hardly any desire for proficiency standard. When further probed into the

respondents could offer a very highly acceptable explanation. According to them, proficiency in

theological education is not needed and is not possible in the case of all Muslims. This level is

required for those who enter certain specialized areas of Islamic activities like Priesthood. But

basic knowledge should be possessed by every Muslim, male or female as this would help

Muslims lead a good life in the Muslims society and also a good life in the national policy.

Perception of the need for education Perception of the need for or importance of education is the initiator of interest in education. The

participant should have a clear vision of the outcome of education. It is only when they are

convinced; it is possible to kindle interest among them. This is perhaps the situation with all

backward classes. The position of the Muslims in relation to primary education as well as higher

education is discussed here.

Primary education: From the earlier discussion it becomes patently clear that most of the literates among the muslins

have not crossed upper primary level. Even this it is no small achievement. What makes the

parents provide even this much of education to their children? It is not anyway because of

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compulsory education that the parents send their children .The reasons given for primary

education are indicated in table 5.6. There are nine reasons assigned. These are: jobs, security,

matrimonial alliances, letter writing, reading story books, reading religious books, ensuring

family interest, help in domestic work and good behavior. While all these reasons are assigned to

boys and girls, the intensity of the assignment varies between boys and girls. As it is evident

from the table, in respect of the boys, primary education is needed mostly for good behavior

(79%) and rendering assistance in work (75%). This is closely followed by letter writing and

reading story books (59%).

But the reasons given in the case of girls’ primary education are different. For instance, in the

case of girls, the most important reason is security (79%), followed by matrimonial alliances

(69%) reading religious books (68%) securing jobs(63%), family interest(60%). Letter writing

and reading stories also accounts for nearly 50 percent.

The main difference between boys and girls are that while in the case of primary education for

boys, good behavior and assistance in work are the most important reasons, in the case of the

girls, security in life and matrimonial alliance together with reading religious book are the most

important reasons.

Higher Education: The responses of the Muslim males and female to higher education have already been described.

This dismal position has been there consistently during the last three generations. This warrants

further explanation as to why the Muslims are not responding to higher education and further, if

they have a desire for higher education, why they want higher education? The latter issue is

taken up first.

These are seven reasons assigned by the respondents which motivate them to send their children

for higher education. These are: jobs, knowledge, status, security, good matrimonial alliance,

adjustment in life and progress of the family. While all these reasons are applicable to the male

children as well as to the female children, these are a significant variation in the opinion of the

respondents for higher education to boys and girls.

So far as male children are concerned a vast majority of them feel that higher education would

provide opportunities in employment market (87%). They feel that if the boys are graduates or

double graduates, they would secure jobs in Government offices and factories. The next

important reason is that higher education would ensure progress of the family (57.9%). Their

22

thinking is that when boys are educated, they would be in a position to bring progress and

prosperity to the whole family. The third reason is that higher education would enable their

children acquire knowledge. The other reasons assigned for boys are status (34%), security

(33%), better chances of getting girls from good families (29%) and adjustment in life (29%).

So far as girls are concerned, the most important reason is knowledge (87%). The respondents

feel that higher education would provide all round knowledge for development. Closely followed

by this is higher education for security (86%). The main explanation offered by them is that if the

girls have to face an unforeseen calamity in life, particularly after marriage, they would be

exposed to many problems in life mostly connected with maintenance. If the girls are educated,

they can stand on their own legs and face the challenges in life. Prospects of better matrimonial

alliance account for 73%. It is the thinking of the respondents that educated girls would get better

husbands. Forty nine % feel that higher education would make the girls prepare themselves for

any type of adjustment in life. The other reasons assigned are: progress of the family (43%),

status(34%), and job(29%).

A Comparative analysis of the reasons given for higher education for boys and girls shows a few

fundamental differences. While securing jobs gets the first place so far as the male children are

concerned, it accounts for the least in the case of female children, though knowledge is an

important reason for boys and girls, it is knowledge that is given the most important reason for

girls’ education. Similarly, while higher education for security and good matrimonial alliances

finds the second and third place in the case of girls, not much importance is given in the case of

boys. Similarly, adjustment for girls than for boys. Further, progress of the family is more

important for the male children than for the female children.

Actual responses The second aspect of this question of higher education concerns the actual responses. We have

known that the actual responses are very poor. And thus there is a conflict of values, a conflict

between precept and practice. The respondents’ attention was drawn to this conflict and their

explanation was sought. Three important reasons were assigned by the respondents for this

conflicting situation. There are: (1) Higher education is a costly enterprise. With limited income,

it is just impossible for the parents to think of higher education for all the children. They have to

make some sort of adjustment in their family budget if they were keen on higher education for

children. In this process, preference is generally given to the boys; (2) though higher education

23

for girls is sometimes accepted as a very important instrument for development, Muslims are

generally traditional and therefore, they would not like to send their daughters to centers of

higher education where co-education prevails. Co-education seems to be a social taboo. Separate

higher educational institution for girls are generally not available in or near about places. Parents

are generally reluctant to send their daughters to Hostels or relative in cities; (3) the third reason

is a very important one. If higher education is a passport for jobs, and if educated Muslims do not

get jobs commensurate with the qualifications, then there is thorough disappointment and

disillusionment. Quite a few cases were brought to the notice of the author. A few graduates who

could not get jobs were assisting their fathers in their petty shops. The grouse of the fathers was

that even after spending a few thousands of rupees on the boy’s education there was nothing they

could get by way of returns.

Reasons

Reasons for choosing medium of instruction were probed into. The major reasons given by the

respondents are: (1) at the primary school levels, particularly at the upper primary level, Urdu,

the mother tongue of the students, is the ideal choice as the children would understand better. For

girls, Urdu medium is more feasible and practicable (2) Kannada medium is taken on two

grounds namely (a) Urdu schools are not located or even if located, these schools body managed

and (b) Kannada being the language of the state would help children in course of

time.(3)English medium schools are generally not found in villages. Even in towns, they are

generally not found. Even if they are located, cost of education prohibits a large number.

At the high school level English medium is preferred because of the fact that (1) Urdu medium

high school are not located in many villages. Anyway, when the children have to go to high

school, the choice is between Kannada medium and English medium. And in this process, they

prefer English medium as it is considered to be more useful later on. At the college level English

medium is the normal medium and therefore these people have to take English medium.

(Mumtaz Ali Khan, 1984)

Habits connected with learning Besides formal education, informal education and non-formal education also influences the

development of people. Quite often these in-formal educational mechanisms assume the form of

24

habits. Newspapers, magazines, books, radio and movies are the five habits connected with

learning, as ascertained from the respondents. It is gathered that most of the adult males do not

use any of these media of learning as habits. Even those who listen to radios or see movies,

though constitute a large number here a very insignificant number listen to radios or see movies

with the intention of learning for development. Even those who read newspaper and magazines,

though the number is limited, hardily take them as mechanisms for equisition of knowledge.

Reading books is the least that a very negligible number of adult females read newspapers when

compared to the adult males read books. Another significant difference is that even though more

adult females than adult males listen to radio and see movies, adult females have hardly anything

to learn from radio and movies for development.

So far as children are concerned, we find a large number of male and female children listening to

the radio and seeing the movies. But what is said about the adult males and females about radio

movies as mechanisms for learning is also true in the case of the male and female children.

Reading news-papers, magazines and books is the least that the boys and girls can do.

Motivation Motivation plays a vital role in promoting participation of the backward classes of people in

educational programmes. Their value system and attitudes are so structured that their poor

participation is credited to the biological nature as such. If these people have to be awakened,

they have to be motivated. Mere legislation and verbal pronouncements will not help the cause of

the poor and the ignorant. What is generally felt desirable to enable liberal participation of

children is the structure of motivational factors.

This motivational issue was discussed with the Muslims respondents. Barring a small number, all

the remaining participated in a dialogue on motivational factors. The four major motivations that

world help the parents are:

(1)Financial assistance: Financial assistance on a liberal scale so that children are not kept out of schools for want of

finances for education. (2)Opening of good schools: Good schools, according to the parents, included good buildings and good teachers. They were

very particular about the latter. In fact, quite a few Muslims were highly critical of the Muslim

teachers who had generally poor qualities as teachers.

25

(3)Separate schools for girls: The respondents were very particular that girls’ education suffers beyond lower primary standard

as the parents become reluctant to send the grown up girls to schools where boys also study.

Such a measure would assume at least upper primary standard in the case of girls.

(4)Liberal assistance from the government: The respondents were generally unhappy with the facilities provided by the state for

advancement of education among the Muslims but when their attention was drawn to enable

participation of the poorer sections of the society in educational programmes, a vast majority of

them were unaware of the special measures. Some of them were able to mention the facilities

provided to the scheduled castes. Some of them had developed a feeling that the government had

deliberately let them down. The government is worse them the step-mother according to some.

However, 14% of them had received some benefits from the state. These benefits are; (1) Free

supply of books, (2) Scholarship, and (3) Free ships. If these schemes are extended on a liberal

scale as done in the case of the scheduled castes, it is felt that the Muslim participation would be

much better.

Another important motivational factor for participating in higher education is job

assurance. many Muslims feel that this is the most effective motivation. Otherwise,

disappointment and frustration among the other Muslims who may not be willing to send their

children for higher education.

Other factors involved in educational development Besides the various motivational factors suggested for promoting education among the Muslims,

three other factors were also brought to light during discussions. These are: private tuition,

parents’ participation in school function and social organizations. The cumulative effects of all

these factors are likely to improve Muslims participation in education both quantitatively and

qualitatively.

Private tuitions: Muslims children, as is true perhaps in the case of other backward class children are generally

poor in school performances. This is because of the parental background or because of the

particular socio-economic system which is not conducive to the cause of the Muslims. Such

children require additional coaching it is gathered from the respondents that the need for private

26

tuition was realized by a little more than 50% parents. These are the people who were interested

in pulling up their children.

Private tuition is provided in three places, namely teachers’ houses (81%), students’ house and

any other place mutually convenient. It was further learnt that private tuition in a teachers’ house

had certain advantages both for the parents and the teachers. If the child goes to the teacher’s

house, the tuition fee charged will be less because more children are there. If on the other hand

the teacher has to go to the students’ house, the tuition fee will be more and secondly, the

problem of separate room arises. Anyway, this latter practice is mostly confined to the well to do

Muslims.

Private tuition is offered mostly in the evening between six and eight and in the day time during

holidays. At the lower primary level, both boys and girls are mixed. But at the later stage of the

upper primary and onwards, boys and girls are segregated and further, grown up girls will not be

allowed to take private tuition from the male teachers.

It was mentioned earlier that there were also people who did not feel the need for private tuition.

These people who accounted for 59% furnished five important reasons. These are: (1) Poverty

(36%); (2) Self coaching (24%); (3) Bright children (5%); (4) Good teachers (33%) and the

remaining could not give any answer.

School functions Participation of the parents in school functions speaks of the values of education that they hold.

Thirty two % respondents said they would attend some of the school functions either to see the

progress of the school or just to see the functions arranged periodically. Of these two advantages

in attending school functions, as reported by the respondents, understanding the progress of the

school prevails among many people. They feel that if the school progresses better, their children

would be in a position to derive better advantages.

Social organizations for education Muslim society as it is seen today has become a class-conscious society. Though Islam aims at

equality in practice this is generally a myth. the main reason for the bankruptcy of egalitarian

type of society is the non-participation of the Muslim intellectuals, the affluent people in taking

up the cause of education among the Muslims in general and rural Muslims in particular.

Whether the capable Muslims and Muslim organizations take up the cause of spreading

education among Muslims is a very important issue in the present context. When the issue was

27

raised with the respondents, a very disappointing note was struck. “Who is there to help us, Sir?

Who is interested in us?” Only about 14% respondents said that there were some people and

organizations helping educational advancement among Muslims. Most of these persons were

close relatives who were helping them financially and otherwise.

So far as Muslim organizations are concerned, only a small number could say something about

them. In fact, until recently there were no Muslim organizations involved in promoting education

among Muslims. A few that exist are located in cities and certainly not in rural areas. Further,

these Muslim education al institutions did not have their roots in rural areas and the system of

education they are interested in does not promote spread of minimum educational standards.

They are mostly confined to higher learning or higher education, particularly in the field of

science and technology. And thus the rule of Muslim organizations is extremely negligible in

educating the illiterate or seems semi literate Muslims masses. This is the outcome of the

discussions held with knowledgeable Muslims. (Mumtaz Ali Khan, 1984)

Economic developments: Perception, problem and motivations The economic conditions of the Muslims have been discussed in the relevant chapter. From this

discussion, it becomes evident that Muslims are by and large subjected to poverty and distress.

As seen in the case of educational development, even in matters relating to economic

development, problems and motivations become quite relevant.

Economic problems Muslims, as perhaps other backward social groups, have quite a few economic problems. The

various economic problems that the respondents mentioned are: (1) low income (2) poor housing

conditions (3) No savings but loans (4) Credit problem (5) Inadequate work (6) Unemployment

land holdings.

Who are responsible for the poor economic conditions of these people? The respondents mention

five persons or factors responsible for their backwardness. These are:

(1)Muslims themselves:- The respondents could identify four important factors under this category. These are: (a) self (b)

Muslim leaders (c) The Muslim rich people (d) Muslim organization. It is interesting to note that

some people held themselves for their backwardness. They could identify reasons which held the

28

self responsible for this. Laziness is a major reason. Muslims do not get up quite early in the

morning and attend to their work. They taken things easy want to command comforts, take rest.

Large size of the family would neutralize whatever increased income is brought to the family. In

the case of the low income family, large number of children has made their conditions

unbearable. The respondents are conscious of this population pressure on economic conditions of

the family. But whether this economic problem has really made them accept family planning is a

different issue and therefore, that is not discussed here.

(2)Extravagance:- Spending above one’s means is said to be one of the reasons for the backwardness of Muslims.

Of course, this is perhaps a universal truth. But the respondents were emphatic when they refer to

extravagance. They were critical of people spending lavishly when they could affect savings.

This type of avoidable expenditure is bound to lead to ruination. Some Muslims said that Islam

opposes extravagance in private or public life. But still quite a few people violate the Islamic

principle and face problems in life.

The continued apathy of Muslims in general for education to their sons and daughters is held

responsible for backwardness, according to some people. It is argued that Muslims neglect

education when they are poor and also when they are rich. Similarly, in the judgment of some

Muslims, lack of religious education is also responsible for backwardness. They feel that if

Muslims receive religious education then they will understand the virtues of hard work, honesty

and then can lead a better life.

(3) Aspiration:- Aspiration is a stepping stone as for future prosperity. If aspiration is lacking then the future of

the children or even the adult’s is uncertain. Some of them do not look to the future. They do not

aspire something better for their children or for themselves, in the years to come. If they have

some aspiration to come up in life at least half way they can go. Otherwise, they cannot. Some

respondents said that Muslims generally prefer to enjoy whatever is available today, but do not

bother about tomorrow. This type of value system curbs their future development.

Muslim elite and organizations The elite has a tremendous social responsibility in improving the conditions of their people, this

is a duty cast on them by Islam. Self-cantered life is denounced in Islam. Even when one is not

financially sound, one can help the backward people in many other ways. But the Muslim

29

respondents were highly critical of rich Muslims as well as the Muslim leadership. they could

profusely quote a few instances where the Muslim political leaders had approached them for

votes and promised many things. But after getting elected they were not to be seen at all.

Social organizations have a key role to play in developing the backward people in particular.

Often each caste group or religious group will have its own associations. Hopes soar high among

the members that these organizations would help them. But if the associations disappoint them,

then people’s confidence in the associations is lost. It is in this context that the views of the

Muslims were obtained on some of the Muslims organizations.

The various organizations known to some of the Muslims (no organization was known to more

than 50 percent respondents) are : Baitumal, AL-Ameen society, ahle Hadis, tableeq-e-jamadt,

Muslim Lengue, Wakf board and jammat-e-islami.knowlegeable persons appreciated the

baitumal’s noble objectives which were in the nature of extending certain services to the needy

Muslims. Donations and subscriptions are collected from the rich and middle class Muslims. But

the experience of the people is that these Baitumal organizations are generally ineffective and

misused, and often defunct.

Al-ameen Educational society established in Bangalore city about a decade ago has good impact

on the people. It is rated very high and people have enthusiasm in extending any support to it.

But this organization is generally confined to higher education the doors of which are generally

not accessible to a vast majority of the Muslims who have no interest in giving higher education

to their children. The second weakness of this organization, according to some key persons, is

that it is generally urban-based and hence rural Muslims are out of its reach. But people hope that

in due course the organization may reach the rural areas and the rural Muslims.

Muslims who are familiar with Ahle- Hadis and tableeq-e-jamaat say that these organizations are

concerned with preaching and propagating Islamic principles and are useful to this extent. But

they are generally not helpful to remove the day-to-day economic and social problem of the poor

Muslims. Muslim League has lost its traditional hold and popularity. Many consider it to be out

dated and a dead horse. And as such it is not useful to the poor Muslims. Its main objective is to

enter election scene during every general election and create emotions among the Muslim masses

and after the election it becomes almost defunct, though a vast majority of the people are not

familiar with its historical role in pressing for partition of the country, somehow people regard it

as not condusive to Muslims development. Further, it has no rural base and rural development

30

programmes. Jamaat-e-Islami is generally disliked as its ideology is anti-secular. People equate it

as a counter part of the R.S.S. It has programmes for development of Muslims faced with

economic and education problems. (Mumtaz Ali Khan, 1984)

The Problem Statement: Today education is very important for the any community to get development, in the India

second the largest community is Muslims, but their contribution in the fast developing country is

very slow and minor level of their contribution and its reason is low education level among

Muslims. Central Government is also serious about to improve minority’s life for the

development. With Muslims, though they have financially support then also they don’t take high

education. They sets their mind that Muslims are not going to get any Government service then

what are the advantages of getting higher education. Through this mind-set, they make their child

uneducated or not enough educated to get the better service in the government sector. And

children or adolescents are also not interested in getting the higher education, family and also

that child or adolescent is not trying to get/provide school education more than school education

they put wattage on sports in that family also supporting. This is the scenario therefore researcher

selected this topic for this proposes my objectives of the study are as follows:

Objectives of the study:

To know the perception of Muslims parents towards education.

To assess the causative factors for drop out among middle class Muslim families.

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Sex ratio: 764/1000 males

Literacy: 82.5%%

Geography Surat is a port city situated on the banks of the Tapti river (damming of the Tapti caused the

original port facilities to close; the nearest port is now in the Hazira area of Surat). The city is

located at 21°10′N 72°50′E/ 21.17°N 72.83°E. It has an average elevation of 13 meters. The

Surat district is surrounded by Bharuch, Narmada (North), Navsari and Dang (South) districts.

To the west is the Gulf of Cambay. The climate is tropical and monsoon rainfall is abundant

(about 2,500 mm a year).

Surat has grown in area since the early 1900s. The oldest part of the city developed in the

area between the train station and the area known as Athwalines. Since the 1990s most of

the new development including the most desirable location for the city's burgeoning

middle and upper class is the area between the Athwalines and Indian Ocean.

Climate

Surat has a tropical wet and dry climate, moderated strongly by the Arabian Sea. The summer

begins in early March and lasts till June. April is the hottest month, the average temperature

being 30 °C. The monsoon begins in late June and the city receives about 800 mm of rain by the

end of September, with the average temperature being around 28 °C during those months.

October and November see the retreat of the monsoon and a return of high temperatures till late

November. Winter starts in December and ends in late February, with average temperatures of

around 22 °C, and little rain.

Economy

Surat is famous for its diamond industry and textile industry, along with silk and chemicals. It is

at the heart of India's thriving diamond-polishing industry, which in 2005 cut 92% of the world's

diamond pieces and earned India $15 billion in exports.It is a major production centre for

synthetic textiles in India.

33

Recently the diamond industry has been struck very hard due to the slowdown in the US

economy. The exports have fallen sharply and it has affected the entire diamond industry of

Surat. Many of the thousands of diamond units in the city have been shut down due to negligible

exports. Experts say that this is a black sign for Surat's economy if the slowdown in European

and US economy continues. Over 200,000 workers have already been laid off from jobs in the

diamond sector. The picture of the textile industry too is not good. The textile industry has been

affected harshly due to the global economy slowdown. Surat is known as the textile capital of

India, but exports have fallen steeply in past months. Job cuts have been a major issue in recent

past in the textile sector too.

Demographics

The population of Surat according to new city limits is 42,74,429. Males constitute 56% of the

population and females 44%. Surat has an average literacy rate of 83%, higher than the national

average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 70%. In Surat, 13% of the

population is under 6 years of age. Around 5% of the total population is Oriya, since many

people come from Orissa in search of jobs; some of whom are then forced to return home, due to

shortages of jobs in Surat. And KIM is the one of the biggest town of the Surat district at their

there is a village name KOTHAWA (Dargah) which is famous for the sufi HAZARAT

MAKHDUM SHAHID WAVA’S dargah, at this village many villagers depended on the dargah

means their occupation related to or depended on dargah’s visitors. Villagers’ literacy rate is

very low. There is school up to only 4 standard and till to 7 standard next village of this. And for

up to 7 standard children have to go 3 km away from the village.

Education

Schools in Surat are either "municipal schools" (run by the SMC) or private schools (run by

trusts or individuals), which in some cases receive financial aid from the government. The

schools are affiliated either with the Gujarat State Board or the Central Board for Secondary

Education (CBSE).

Under the 10+2+3 format, students attend primary and secondary schooling during the first ten

years and then may complete two years of higher secondary education, followed by three years at

34

college for commerce, arts or science degrees. Generally, engineering degree courses take four

years, while medicine takes about five and half years or more. Most colleges in the city are

affiliated with the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University. Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute

of Technology, one of the NITs, is a premier engineering college, is also located here.

Surat has a large concentration of colleges under the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in

the Athwa Lines area on the banks of the Tapti river. It has a medical college and three

engineering colleges, including the prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of

Technology, Surat(SVNIT formerly svrcet or svr, among the 17 NIT's of India), some private

colleges like Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology (SCET), and the C K Pithawala

College of Engineering and Technology (CKPCET). SCET is one of the few institutions in the

country to offer engineering degrees in Surat's main industry, Textiles. The 'Sir K.P.College of

commerce' and MTB Arts and PT Science colleges are among the oldest in the state of Gujarat

with PT Science being the only English Science college in the city. V.T. Choksi Sarvajanik

College of Education is another well known educational institution. Sheth P T Mahila college of

Arts and Homescience is exclusively for girls.. This grant in aid college is affiliated to SNDT

Women's university, Mumbai (NAAC accredited 5 star). Surat has one of Private Medical

College SMIMER - Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education & Research, Dr.S &

S.S.Gandhi College of Polytechnic Engineering, Majuragate, Surat

Media

Gujarat Mitra, one of the oldest and most respected dailies of the country, is the most popular

daily newspaper of Surat and South Gujarat. Besides Gujarat Mitra, other dailies include Gujarat

Samachar, Sandesh, Divyabhaskar and Commodity World. Local editions of these newspapers

are published in Gujarati. Loktej was the first Hindi daily published in Surat. Rajasthan Patrika

and Savera are now the top Hindi daily newspapers in Surat. The national dailies Indian Express,

The Times of India and Mid Day are the most popular English-language newspapers. DNA-

Daily News and Analysis is a new addition to the list of English dailies available in Surat.

Since the city has the largest synthetic textile manufacturing center in India, there is an exclusive

textile newspaper called Textile Graph. It is published in Surat, since 1994, in Gujarati and Hindi

35

versions. The 'Textile Directory of Surat' (5th. edition) comprising business information of

textile traders and industry in and around Surat is also published by Textile Graph.

Most cable service providers have local television channels. Satellite TV DTH services are

provided by DISH TV, TATA SKY and BIG TV. Broadband internet connections are also

available in the city. Broadband service providers include BSNL, TATA Indicom, Reliance

Communication, YOU Broadband. Wi-Fi connectivity is available at many cafes.

Radio

Currently, Surat has four FM Radio stations along with the national radio Vividh Bharati.

• Radio City 91.1

• Radio Mirchi 98.3

• My FM 94.3

• Big FM 92.7

36

Research Methodology: 1) Universe of the study:- The universe of this study is Kothwa village which is 10 km far away from Kim railway station

in the Surat district. The topic of the study is to know the causative factors for dropout among

middle class Muslim families.

2) Sample of the study:- There were almost up to 75 children who have dropped the education but from them nearly 55

children who came in to my research category which was age should not be up to 22 years and

child should have dropped the education after 7th standard so up to 20 children were up to 22

years old so researcher has selected 50 children’s father as the respondents for the study.

3) Selection of sample:- The sample design is concerned with two aspects. Firstly the number of respondents to be

selected and secondly how are these respondents through sampling methods. The researcher

utilized probability sampling method, while undertaking research process. There are various

methods under probability sampling method like:

a) Stratified Sampling

b) Snowball Sampling

Stratified Sampling: In stratified sampling the population is divided into several sub-populations that are

individually more homogeneous than the total population and then we select items from each

stratum to constitute a sample. Since each stratum is more homogeneous than the total

population, we are able to get more precise estimates for each stratum and by estimating more

accurately each of the component parts, and we get a better estimate of the whole.

Researcher has used first Stratified Sampling for the data collection, at the area of data

collection there were up to 75 students who have dropout the education but from them up to 20

students were above the age limit which is below 22 years but the researcher did not know the

exactly how many and who are the students who have dropped out the school so researcher had

made the list of the respondents who comes under the age limit of 22 years at this way researcher

37

divided the population into these two division which are below and above the age of 22 years

and made the list of them whomever researcher knew.

Snowball Sampling:

Snowball sampling is externally helped in studying some special sampling situation. In

snowball sampling we start with a few respondents of the type we wish to include in our study

and who in turn are expected to guide us to get more respondents and so on. Like the rotation of

snowball, sample increases in its size as we continue to get more units of study.

Researcher has made the list of the respondents through that list, started the research and

also researcher got other respondents through the selected respondents through this way

researcher has got the total respondents and completed the data collection.

Variable under the Study: Variables for the present study are as follow…

Independent Variable:

• Personal Information,

• Dropout

• Perception Towards Education

Dependent Variable:

• Economic condition

• Education

• Occupation

4) Data Collection:- The two types of sources of data in social research are ‘people’ and ‘paper’. People are

labeled as primary source of data and paper is labeled as secondary source of data.

1. Primary data

The Structured Interview:- Data collection methods will vary according to the type of information of researcher; the

research question and the resources. For the study the researcher uses the structured interview

method. Researcher selected the structured interview method because there are not enough

38

educated people to fill the questionnaire by themselves and in this method flexibility is

permitted in deciding the answer and also giving multiple choices to the interviewee.

In this structured interview method researcher include personal data, fathers’ education level,

reasons for dropping the education and perception about the education.

2. Secondary data

Data for the study collected through secondary sources also. The reports of Census, NFHS, NSS,

other surveys and those such as Sachar Committee used for data collection and completion.

Besides these, books, monographs, journals, newspapers and websites on the internet have been

used. The researcher utilized the different libraries like library of the department of the

Sociology, library of CSEIP, library of the university and library of the CSS.

5) Data Analysis:- a) Coding sheet:

It includes age, gender, standard, education level of parents, economical condition,

different reasons for dropping the education and perception about the education etc…for

example Family type includes nuclear code number (0), and joint code number (1).

b) Master sheet:

In the vertical side the numbers are given to the respondent from 1 to 50. The

horizontal side was from A to AM. Code (0) is given to male respondents and (1) is given to

female respondents, for the analysis of the data researcher used SPSS and MS EXCEL. Limitations:

• Due to time limitation researcher couldn’t get more respondents for the study. • Due to age limitation researcher couldn’t include other students who dropout the

education before some years.

39

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

40

Review of Literature Reviews of work on Muslims have pointed to the paucity of work on Muslims since

Independence (I. Ahmad 1972; Madan 1995). Satish Saberwal (2005) have commented that there

were ideological, conceptual and methodological reason for the scarcity of basic enquiry

concerning Muslims at this time. He suggests that one of the ideological reasons for the neglect

of Muslims during this period was that, following the trauma of partition, there was a tendency to

ignore marks of difference within Indian society. Scholars working with categories of ‘Hindu’

and ‘Muslim’ could be accused of displaying a communal outlook. Conceptually , the focus on

caste – an issue which – as identified with Indian society, and methodology, the disinterest of

sociologists in historical developments, contributed to a general neglect of Muslims in sociology

in India. The broad issues of sociological concern in the years following Independence took up

the challenges and possibilities of modernization and development, while more substantive

investigations were made of villages, caste, kinship, ritual, and issues of inequality arising out of

the nexus of caste and class (Beteille, 2003). These were, by and large, looked at as large

projects, and there seems to have been no thinking at that time on exploring the impact on

different religious communities. Apart from this, there was perhaps a disinterest in religion,

arising out of a need to commit to the values of modernization, in which religion was seen as one

of the major handicaps to development. At most, the interest in religiously defined groups was

with looking at features of religion that were mostly to play a facilitating or obstructive role in

modernization. There were a few monographs that looked at issues that were specific to

Muslims. Leela Dube’s Matriliny and Islam (1969) took up the theoretical issue of how a

matrilineal kinship system works in a society which otherwise adheres to Islam, ‘which in its

ideology as well as in its prescriptions, mandates and injunctions assumes and emphasizes a

matrilineal social structure’ (Ibid.: 3). Pratap Aggarwal’s (1971) research on the Meos Started

with the interesting question of why the Meos, who for about 300 years had been nominal

Muslims, became more committed to their Muslims identity after Partition. Both these dealt with

somewhat unusual situations, and both looked at religion in different ways. Mattison Mines

(1972) looked at the question of entrepreneurship among a Muslim community in South India,

41

keeping in view Max Weber’s proposition that a major factor in the development of capitalism in

the West was religion. Mines attempted to show that the Muslim community he studied was not

lacking in line with other studies that looked at entrepreneurship among other groups, like the

Jains, who were successful businesspersons despite belong to a religion which would be

characterized as ‘other worldly’ by Weber. As far as the role of religion was concerned, the

studies considered religion as one among other factors, and took as the backdrop against which

they explored the variations and contradictions in religious practice in the communities studied.

Apart from these monographs, there was little that specifically looked at Muslims, whether as

separate communities or even in terms of the general demographic situation. It was this kind of

absence that led Imtiaz Ahmad (1972) to point out that, whether one looked at village studies, or

modernization and development studies, the absence of work on Muslims or, for that matter, on

all the minorities, is striking. He was pointing to the lacuna in empirical work, since most studies

looked at Hindu communities or castes; nevertheless, the question also raised the issue of how

India itself was viewed. Imtiyaz Ahmad’s collections of articles written on different aspects of

Muslims in India were an attempt to remedy the situation as far as the lacuna in work on

Muslims was concerned. His four edited books published in the 1970s and 1980s put together

articles on Muslims in the areas of family and kinship, caste, modernization and change, and

religion and ritual. He articulated the framework that was evident in the articles: While Muslims

in India (as Muslims elsewhere) believe in and practice the cardinal pillars of the faith, the

practice of Islam in India is heavily underlined ‘by element which are accretions, drawn from the

local environment and contradict the fundamentalist view of the beliefs and practices to which

Muslims must adhere (1981:7). Many of the practices associated with rites of passage, customs,

beliefs and social institutions were accordingly discussed in this framework, and accounted for

either as ‘survivals’ or as ‘diffusion’ from Hindu customs.

Rituals especially were described as ‘syncretic’. Since this was the major frame in which

the research interest on Muslims in India developed, in the1970s and 1980s worldwide there was

a growing realization among anthropologists that Muslim societies were not simple reflections of

the ‘Great and Little tradition’, and the focus of sociological studies of Islam and Muslim

societies studies, which had simply assumed that the textual practices as articulated by the

Ulama were the actual practices to be found in the community. The focus on ‘lived’ Islam was

an effort to bring into the sociological forefront the fact that Islamic societies were quite diverse

42

and that one could find in those societies a number of practices that went beyond the ‘five

pillars’. Women’s rituals, the different ways in which the Prophet was emulated, healing rituals,

Sufi shrines, and women’s rituals were some of the areas which were explored in Muslim

societies. A number of variations of the ‘Great and Little tradition’ approach emerged, in which

dichotomies such as ‘universal’ and particular’, ‘transcendental’ and ‘practical’, ‘purist’ and

’syncretic’, ‘orthodox’ and ‘heterodox’, etc. were used to describe what was seen as a conflict

between the ‘textual’ and ‘lived’ Islam (see Roy 2005:32). Roy also points out that this frame,

through which the problem of diversity of religious practices was addressed, resulted in a

tendency to exclude as ‘Islamic’ those practices that did not fit in with the Ulama’s definition of

Islam. Such practices were classed as ‘local’, ‘cultural’, etc. and their existence in the

communities studied was taken as evidence of inadequate Islamisation or as evidence that the

process of conversion was gradual and slow. The research question that was considered most

interesting was how the local and the universal (or textual) were combined or contradicted in

practice.

In India, this kind of research question was exemplified in the discussion of caste. One of

the major areas of focus in the late 1970s and 1980s was caste. On the one hand, the interest in

caste was in terms of its ideological aspects. This was inspired by Louis Dumont’s Homo

Hierarchicus (1980), which defied India as opposed to the West in terms of its approach to

hierarchy. On the other hand, there were empirical investigations on caste, for instance, in village

studies, which revealed how the field showed variation in caste not easily visible in the texture

approaches of G.S. Ghurye or Dumont.

The focus on caste as the defining feature of Indian society contributed further to the tendency to

see India as primarily Hindu. For Dumont, India was culturally Hindu, and other communities,

religious groups and categories were by definition, therefore, secondary. In Dumont’s work,

Muslims society, which according to the textual sources, should have been more egalitarian.

Peter van der Veer (1994:33) points out how the Orientalist assumption dominated not only the

theories in the social sciences that dealt with the caste system, but also discussions on Hindu-

Muslim relations, by relying on textual material for their understanding of the place of religion in

Indian society. For Dumont, since the caste system was so primary, Muslims were marginal,

because they were just like Hindus (in having caste), or marginal anyway either because they

followed a ‘foreign; religion or because of their numbers, the issue of caste dud raise some

43

theoretical question regarding the extent to which caste could be said to exist among Muslims in

India, and the explanation for it (see Lindholm, 1986). Imtiaz Ahmad’s book in caste (1978) had

already pointes to the existence of communities which practiced endogamy or had other

practiced endogamy or had other practices that were similar to caste. The book identified many

communities which practiced endogamy and had restricted relationships with one another.

Dumont’s discussion on caste among Muslims had looked at the issue only with reference to the

textual contradiction between the normative egalitarianism of Islam and hierarchy of Hindu

society. Imtiyaz Ahmad’s explanation for the existence of these practices among Muslims was

that it was the impact of the wider Hindu society. However, an alternative explanation was also

put forward. C. Lindholm (1986) pointed out that there were similar practices in other parts of

the Islamic world, and that, therefore, the existence of the practices described among the

different Muslim communities represented in Imtiyaz Ahmad’s book could be considered to be

part of a larger cultural milieu than just the Hindu Indian. He pointed out that one should not

only assume ‘assimilation’, but also question where and why there was resistance to assimilation.

The focus on ‘lived’ Islam was a necessary corrective to looking at Islam in a historic

manner, as the Islamist and religious scholars tended to do. On the other hand, the focus on the

syncretic and exotic was at the cost of looking at the everyday and textual practices in their own

terms, and recognizing that these too were embedded in the local culture and that they too could

be of sociological interest. Unfortunately, the very focus on ‘lived’ Islam seems to have

replicated the idea that there is a textual and a local, each clearly identifiable according to some

external standard. Roy (2005) has traced the development of approaches to the study of ‘popular’

Islam and has lamented the tendency of social scientists to categorize the ‘popular’ as not

‘Islamic’. The point is very well taken. However, it seems that Roy replicates the division, even

in the process of criticizing the Islamists and social scientists who have adopted this approach.

He continues to talk of the need to recognize that the relationship between the two is not always

antagonistic, that is sometimes complementary or may even involve inserting an ‘Islamic’

meaning or content into some cultural practice, in this way incorporating it into an Islamic

framework. These processes are clearly visible at the empirical level. However, treating tradition

in this way not only makes a distinction that may or may not be meaningful for those who

actually practice the religion, but it gives fixity to definitions of Islam without relating these to

the social groups they represent. Also, it once again has the effect of ignoring those practices

44

which cannot be easily classed as one or another. Two points can be noted in this connection.

The first is regarding how to look at the distinction between the prescribed practices and other

that are also done by Muslim in any particular context. Such distinctions have to be seen with

reference to why that distinction is being made, in which context, by whom and with what effect.

This means, first of all, recognizing the Ulama as one among others who are trying to articulate

what being Muslim means to them.

Studies of religion per se have gone into the background, and issues of nationalism,

secularism, ethnicity, identity, pluralism and multiculturalism have come in for more close

discussion. These discussions inevitably bring in the situation of Muslims as minorities. It is,

however, the general approach adopted in these studies that has been of help even in work that is

more directly anthropological and sociological. This is, no doubt, not only because of

developments within India, but also because of events worldwide. The major advance that we see

in the recent studies in India is that they are more historicized, they take the position that

identities are social constructs, and that it is in the context of specific social and political

developments that identities (including religious identities) take shape. Furthermore, there is a far

greater recognition that culture must be viewed as dynamic, and that religion today is deeply

influenced by political events. The realization that the position of Muslims needs to be monitored

has resulted in some studies which have tried to survey the situation of Muslims with regard to

specific parameters. For example, A. Ahmad (1993) and R. Jain (2005) have looked at the state

of education among Muslims.

Coming to the education of Muslims Danish (2004) argues in his report, it is based on a

survey conducted in three districts of Uttar Pradesh that have a fairy high Muslim population,

characterized by high rates of illiteracy and widespread poverty: Siddharthnagar, Barabanki and

Moradabad. A total of 48 madrasas and 6 Government schools were surveyed and 216 madrasa

teachers, 15 Government primary school teachers, and several students in schools and madrasas

and their parents were interviewed for this study. In the Moradabad district it was found that

42.35% of parents of students in madrasas and government schools were illiterate, 12.94% had

acquired secondary education and only 1.76% was madrasa graduates. Their average annual

income was `  24,535. Of the 170 parents, only 4 were government employees. 10.58% were

unemployed, 15,85% were daily wage earners, 42.35% were engaged in small income generation

activities and 27.64% were artisans. In other words, the vast majority of students studying in

45

madrasas and government come from economically deprived backgrounds. (A thesis submitted

by Dr. Samiullah Ghanchi, CSSEIP, Department of Sociology, VNSG University).

It is further observed form the table that while 46 percent respondents desire education not more

than upper primary for girls, only 24 percent desire this level for boys. Though about one-fourth

of the respondents desired high school education, there is not much difference in their opinion

about the need for boys and girls. But so far as college education is concerned, the difference in

the parents desire is too wide. While just 26 percent respondents want college education for girls,

50 percent desire it for boys (Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan, 1984).

A study up on ‘Focusing on education for the Muslim girl child’ by Prof. Rekha Pande, Director

of Centre for Women's Studies, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Gachi Bowli,

Hyderabad, she described that Education is a very important tool for creating a gender just

society and bringing in empowerment to women. For this we have to start with the girl child.

Unfortunately today if we look at the statistics there is a lot of gap between the education of men

and women. Even within the context of education in general, there is a wide gap between the

Muslim women and the women belonging to other religions and communities. Though primary

education is free in India very few girls who enroll, continue their studies and drop out at some

point or another. Education is a very important means for upward mobility and integration into

the economy and society and if a large chunk of women are left behind overall development will

take a back seat.

Even though many changes have taken place in the role and status of Women in India, and also

in the world, no spectacular transformation has taken place in the case of Muslim women. Their

participation in the social and economic spheres is limited when compared to their female

counterparts in other religious communities. In comparison with other major culture areas, the

Muslim majority nations of the world have low rate of reported economic activity by women,

low female literacy at all levels. Various impediment have been imposed on women by Muslim

community by a role principally to that mother and wife and for all practical purpose denied her

freedom to choose a role or a combination of roles.

Though considerable steps have been taken and enrolment of girls has marginally increased yet

social and gender gaps are wide and many of the girls drop out after the initial primary school.

The 1983, Report on Minorities, declared Muslims to be a backward community primarily due to

the dismal educational and exceedingly poor socio- economic status particularly of Muslim

46

women and a high dropout rate at the elementary stage of education (Report, 1983). According

to the 2001 Census, although literacy among Muslims improved between 1993-94 and 1999-

2000, their rates (67.66%) are still on average 10% below that of the Hindus (71.16 %). In rural

areas in 2000, 48% of Muslims above the age of seven could not read or write, compared to 44%

Hindus in the same situation. In urban areas the gap is much wider, 30% among the Muslims but

only 10% among the Hindus (Census, 2001).

In a study which we did in some of the slums in Hyderabad, India among the muslim girls, we

found that of the 472 children, 298 are the school going children and 174 are the drop outs. In

our sample among the boys, 6.9% were illiterate, 41.15% were drop outs, 44.32% were school

going. Of the girls 8.36% were illiterate, 26.69% were drop outs, and 64.9% were going to

school.

From the 298 school going children, 45.30% of the children are boys and 54.69% are girls. The

number of children who preferred English medium is 50.5% in which 44.59% are girls and

55.40% are boys which show that for boys english medium is preferred when compared to the

girls, for whom a religious education is considered important.

Girls percentage in drop out level is lower than the boys because girls are usually send to school

after doing their houses hold activities where as boys have earn for the family, to overcome the

financial problems due to the high rate of poverty.

As the education level increases the number of children in the school decreases. A main reason

for the girls, not being sent to the college is early marriage, and for the boys it is poverty. Due to

their low socio-economic status they do not prefer the higher education for the boys. If the socio-

economic state is satisfactory, then they prefer to give higher education to the boys in

comparison to girls because boys will be their bread earner for the family and girls would get

married and go to another house. May people are sending their girls to school to educate the

family or to become better house wives.

Cultural norms as well as family livelihood strategies place girls education at a greater risk than

that of boys. The making of gender identity begins in the family as children internalize what are

seen as culturally appropriate qualities and attitudes associated with being masculine and

47

feminine through socialization .Though girls education is gradually becoming more of a social

norm, it is still heavily influenced by considerations of marriage and status production rather

than the need for economic security for the individual or her family. Thus when girls are ready

for marriage and social taboos to their mobility set in, or there is need for extra hands within the

home, or finances do not permit, it is girls who are more likely to be pulled out of schools than

boys.

Girls are at a disadvantage in relation to boys not merely in relation to their chances of school

entry and retention but in the kind of academic environments provided by the home as well.

Though schools are embedded in the larger social structure characterized by hierarchical gender

relations and ideologies that devalue the position of women, attempts must be made to push the

limits and explore the possibilities of change through schools, particularly as they offer public

space that is obliged to be informed by principles of equality. Thus it is necessary to critically

review school knowledge and pedagogic practices from the perspective of gender equity and

provide meaningful learning opportunities for all children.

The overwhelming finding of our survey is of conspicuous and continuing disparities in

education for the Muslim women. While 28.66% men were illiterate, 38.66% women were

illiterate. Even at the all India level most Muslim women have never been to school close to 58

per cent of women reported themselves to be illiterate and the school enrolment rate for the

Muslim girl is high at the primary level that is 53.46 per cent, as we move up the education

ladder, there is a significant drop in the proportion of the higher education.

A major problem facing both boys and girls in this socio- economic stratum is that although they

may be enrolled at the primary level, they don’t always remain in school. Many of the boys drop

out in order to earn for a living and girls drop out due to marriage and low value placed on the

girls’ education. Three crucial factors play an important role in deciding about education, the

low standard of living, low level of boys’ education and early marriages. As the boys are less

educated the parents feel if the girls get more education it can create problems for marriage.

They still see education as a stop gap arrangement for marriage and not to make one independent

and self reliant.

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Though education in a government primary school is also free many families are more in favour

of the education in a madrasa. They do not see the Government school as an effective means of

social mobility. There is a need to modernize these madarsas and equip them also to provide

formal education besides religious education. Many parents think that English education is good

and a child would have a bright future if they are educated in English medium schools. Hence,

this is a very important reason for modernizing the education in the madrasas and expands their

scope by including other systems of education besides religious education.

The low school enrolment and gender disparity are manifestations of poverty and the

inaccessibility of the school system. Poor households also withdraw girls for supplementing the

household earning or taking care of the siblings when the parents are working. Artisans, skilled

workers and small business families do not see any advantage in formal schooling as it does not

add on to their skills or their job prospects. As there are very few of these people in government

jobs they do not see any advantages in formal schooling. Early marriage was a great impediment

to girls schooling because there is an increase in incidents of dowry and parents would like to get

their girls married soon. A large scale effort has to be made to create awareness and bring in

education to people below the poverty line.

Perception of the need for education Perception of the need for or importance of education is the initiator of interest in education. The

participant should have a clear vision of the outcome of education. It is only when they are

convinced; it is possible to kindle interest among them. This is perhaps the situation with all

backward classes. The position of the Muslims in relation to primary education as well as higher

education is discussed here.

Primary education From the earlier discussion it becomes patently clear that most of the literates among

the muslins have not crossed upper primary level. Even this it is no small achievement. What

makes the parents provide even this much of education to their children? It is not anyway

because of compulsory education that the parents send their children. There are nine reasons

assigned. These are: jobs, security, matrimonial alliances, letter writing, reading story books,

reading religious books, ensuring family interest, help in domestic work and good behavior.

While all these reasons are assigned to boys and girls, the intensity of the assignment varies

between boys and girls. As it is evident from the table, in respect of the boys, primary education

49

is needed mostly for good behavior (79%) and rendering assistance in work (75%). This is

closely followed by letter writing and reading story books (59%).

But the reasons given in the case of girls’ primary education are different. For instance, in the

case of girls, the most important reason is security (79%), followed by matrimonial alliances

(69%) reading religious books (68%) securing jobs (63%), family interest(60%). Letter writing

and reading stories also accounts for nearly 50 percent.

The main difference between boys and girls are that while in the case of primary education for

boys, good behavior and assistance in work are the most important reasons, in the case of the

girls, security in life and matrimonial alliance together with reading religious book are the most

important reasons.

Higher Education: The responses of the Muslim males and female to higher education have already been

described. This dismal position has been there consistently during the last three generations. This

warrants further explanation as to why the Muslims are not responding to higher education and

further, if they have a desire for higher education, why they want higher education? The latter

issue is taken up first.

These are seven reasons assigned by the respondents which motivate them to send their children

for higher education. These are: jobs, knowledge, status, security, good matrimonial alliance,

adjustment in life and progress of the family. While all these reasons are applicable to the male

children as well as to the female children, these are a significant variation in the opinion of the

respondents for higher education to boys and girls.

So far as male children are concerned a vast majority of them feel that higher education

would provide opportunities in employment market (87%). They feel that if the boys are

graduates or double graduates, they would secure jobs in Government offices and factories. The

next important reason is that higher education would ensure progress of the family (57.9%).

Their thinking is that when boys are educated, they would be in a position to bring progress and

prosperity to the whole family. The third reason is that higher education would enable their

children acquire knowledge. The other reasons assigned for boys are status (34%), security

(33%), better chances of getting girls from good families (29%) and adjustment in life (29%).

So far as girls are concerned, the most important reason is knowledge (87%). The

respondents feel that higher education would provide all round knowledge for development.

50

Closely followed by this is higher education for security (86%). The main explanation offered by

them is that if the girls have to face an unforeseen calamity in life, particularly after marriage,

they would be exposed to many problems in life mostly connected with maintenance. If the girls

are educated, they can stand on their own legs and face the challenges in life. Prospects of better

matrimonial alliance account for 73%. It is the thinking of the respondents that educated girls

would get better husbands. Forty nine % feel that higher education would make the girls prepare

themselves for any type of adjustment in life. The other reasons assigned are: progress of the

family (43%), status (34%), and job (29%).

A Comparative analysis of the reasons given for higher education for boys and girls

shows a few fundamental differences. While securing jobs gets the first place so far as the male

children are concerned, it accounts for the least in the case of female children, though knowledge

is an important reason for boys and girls, it is knowledge that is given the most important reason

for girls’ education. Similarly, while higher education for security and good matrimonial

alliances finds the second and third place in the case of girls, not much importance is given in the

case of boys. Similarly, adjustment for girls than for boys. Further, progress of the family is more

important for the male children than for the female children.

Actual responses The second aspect of this question of higher education concerns the actual responses. We

have known that the actual responses are very poor. And thus there is a conflict of values, a

conflict between precept and practice. The respondents’ attention was drawn to this conflict and

their explanation was sought. Three important reasons were assigned by the respondents for this

conflicting situation. There are: (1) Higher education is a costly enterprise. With limited income,

it is just impossible for the parents to think of higher education for all the children. They have to

make some sort of adjustment in their family budget if they were keen on higher education for

children. In this process, preference is generally given to the boys; (2) though higher education

for girls is sometimes accepted as a very important instrument for development, Muslims are

generally traditional and therefore, they would not like to send their daughters to centers of

higher education where co-education prevails. Co-education seems to be a social taboo. Separate

higher educational institution for girls are generally not available in or near about places. Parents

are generally reluctant to send their daughters to Hostels or relative in cities; (3) the third reason

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is a very important one. If higher education is a passport for jobs, and if educated Muslims do not

get jobs commensurate with the qualifications, then there is thorough disappointment and

disillusionment. Quite a few cases were brought to the notice of the author. A few graduates who

could not get jobs were assisting their fathers in their petty shops. The grouse of the fathers was

that even after spending a few thousands of rupees on the boy’s education there was nothing they

could get by way of returns.

Reasons

Reasons for choosing medium of instruction were probed into. The major reasons given by the

respondents are: (1) at the primary school levels, particularly at the upper primary level, Urdu,

the mother tongue of the students, is the ideal choice as the children would understand better. For

girls, Urdu medium is more feasible and practicable (2) Kannada medium is taken on two

grounds namely (a) Urdu schools are not located or even if located, these schools body managed

and (b) Kannada being the language of the state would help children in course of

time.(3)English medium schools are generally not found in villages. Even in towns, they are

generally not found. Even if they are located, cost of education prohibits a large number.

At the high school level English medium is preferred because of the fact that (1) Urdu

medium high school are not located in many villages. Anyway, when the children have to go to

high school, the choice is between Kannada medium and English medium. And in this process,

they prefer English medium as it is considered to be more useful later on. At the college level

English medium is the normal medium and therefore these people have to take English medium.

(A study by Mumtaz Ali Khan, 1984 )

M N Asadullah described in his research ‘Social divisions in school participation and attainment

in India’ (March 15, 2009). The study documents the size and nature of Hindu-Muslim gaps in

school participation and attainments in India drawing upon two rounds of National Sample

Survey (NSS) data. Even after controlling for socio-economic conditions and parental

background, Muslim children were found to be significantly disadvantaged in terms of school

enrolment and grade completion in 1983. By 2004, whilst these gaps have been narrowed,

significant gaps remain, particularly in grade completion: the Muslim disadvantage in India

today is greater than observed gender gap in school completion. We consider a specific

hypothesis to explain these educational disparities between children of India’s two largest

52

religious groups – influence of state of residence. Child schooling regressions yield large

coefficients on state dummies even after controlling religious membership and observed

differences in socio-economic and family conditions of the child. Neither is this Muslim

“penalty” explained by one’s region of residence. Whilst state of residence matters for children’s

education in India, most of the Muslim effect is found to be a within-state phenomenon.

Nonetheless, we explored to what extent the observed Muslim disadvantage in India can be

attributed to the demographic, economic, political and cultural aspects of that region. Our

analysis shows that commonly perceived region-specific explanations of Muslim disadvantage in

India do not have much explanatory power either. The Muslim effect remains unchanged even

after netting out the contribution of state characteristics such as extent of ethnic fractionalisation,

poverty, whether the region is Southern and political competition. Acknowledging the

importance of education for economic growth and poverty reduction, a number of studies in

recent years have sought to document the constraints facing households in India with respect to

investment in children’s education (e.g. PROBE, 1999; Dreze and Kingdon, 2001; Kingdon,

2007; Kochar, 2004). Reasons identified for low participation in these studies range from factors

such as rural infrastructure (e.g. roads), conditions in the local village economy, the functioning

and size of the relevant labour market, household credit-constraints, sex discrimination to the

poor quality and inadequate supply of schools. However, for multi-ethnic countries with less

than universal coverage of education, an added Millennium Development Goal (MDG) challenge

is that of closing school participation gaps across various social groups. In developing countries

such as South Africa, economic and social disadvantage of the Black minorities is a well-

documented phenomenon. Similarly in India, it is widely believed that people belonging to the

lower caste and non-Hindu (e.g. Muslim) faith groups are economically deprived1. If so,

knowledge of the educational exclusion of children from these social groups is important from

policy point view.

Almost all the existing studies on determinants of school participation and attainment in India

today acknowledge socio-religious differences in the population and document the profile of

educational achievement by caste, religion and gender, albeit largely as a by-product (e.g. Dreze

and Kingdon, 2001; Kingdon, 2002; Dostie and Jayaraman, 2006). Evidence from these studies

1 Given the differential fertility rate between Hindus and Muslims, the population share of the later will further rise in the future which serves as an added motivation for a separate examination of determinants of schooling amongst Muslims households (Borooah and Iyer, 2005; Rajaram and Jayachandran, 2007).

53

is mixed- whilst Dreze and Kingdon (2001) find no evidence of intrinsic educational

disadvantage among Muslim children, Kingdon (2002) and Dostie and Jayaraman (2006) report

some evidence of Muslim disadvantage in schooling even after netting out differences in family

background and personal attributes. More recently, researchers have revisited the issue of

determinants of school participation in India using large-scale nationally representative datasets.

On the basis of these studies, there is considerable evidence of social disparity in educational

outcomes in India – girls lag behind boys; children born into Muslim and scheduled castes

families achieve much less than those from Hindu families (Desai and Darden, 2006; Boorah and

Iyer, 2006; Bhalotra and Zamora, 2006; Rajaram and Jayachandran, 2007)2. Studies that use

multi-round household datasets even indicate that whilst Hindu-Muslim (H-M) educational gap

has been reduced in school attendance, it has actually widened in completion (e.g. Bhalotra and

Zamora, 2006)3. Given the link between education and poverty, it is little surprise that these

educational gaps are also mirrored in economic disparity between the corresponding social

groups. Moreover, given that returns to education in India rise with levels of education (Dutta,

2006), any H-M educational gap will translate into further H-M gaps in labour market earnings.

Indeed, Bhaumik and Chakrabarty (2008) demonstrate that equalizing educational access can

reduce H-M wage gap by as much as 45%4. Similar effect of education is also documented for

other social groups in India. For instance, Gang, Sen and Yun (2008) find that differences in

educational attainment explain about 25% of the poverty gap for both the Scheduled Caste and

Schedule Tribe households in India. If true, targeted educational investments could serve as an

important policy lever to reduce economic inequality between religious groups in India.

Knowledge of such gaps is particularly important in the context of liberalisation of Indian

economy in the recent past and the rise in economic returns to schooling.

2 Existing studies on determinants of children’s health status also point out a Hindu-Muslim gap. E.g. Borooah (2004) finds that the likelihood of Hindu children being fully vaccinated was 20 percentage points higher than that for Muslim children. 3 Balhotra and Zamora (2007) use 2 rounds of NFHS survey data spanning the period 1992/3 and 1998/9. 4For example, Bhaumik and Chakrabarty (2008) estimate the gap in the average (log) earnings of Hindu and Muslim wage earners in India, during the 1987-2004 period. The finding that education differences between Hindu and Muslim wage earners, especially differences in the proportion of wage earners with tertiary education, are largely responsible for the differences in the average (log) earnings of the two religious groups across the years. By contrast, differences in the returns to education do not explain the aforementioned difference in average (log) earnings.

54

Despite the well-documented between faith group differences in outcomes and the policy

relevance of such research5, there is a general lack of descriptive research on the extent and

nature of H-M gaps in schooling in India. Apart from Boorah and Iyer (2006), none of the extant

published studies emphasise the importance of one’s religious group membership as a

determinant of educational attainment.

Recently, debate over Muslim educational backwardness in India has received attention from

policy makers following the publication of a national commission report on social, economic and

education status of the Muslim community in India (Sachar, 2006). The report highlighted a

number of statistical patterns in the case of educational participation and literacy attainments of

Muslim population:

i) Literacy rate among Muslims was far below the national average.

ii) 25% of Muslim children in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school

or have dropped out.

iii) Dropout rates among Muslims are higher at the level of primary, middle and higher

secondary school.

iv) The educational disparity is widening since 1970s between Muslims and all other

categories in post- secondary level. In premier colleges only 4% of under-graduate

students and 2% of post-graduate students are Muslims.

v) The changes in the educational patterns across the various religious groups and

communities suggest that the schedule castes and schedule tribes have definitely reaped

the advantages of targeted government and private action supporting their educational

progress. This reflects the importance of affirmative action.

Given their educational backwardness, it is not unsurprising that the report also notes that

unemployment rate among Muslim graduates is the highest among all socio-religious

communities in India. Nonetheless, socio-economic gaps across ethnic and religious

communities are not uncommon in other countries. However, cross-country descriptive studies

are suggestive of the hypothesis that children growing up in Muslim communities in general

have less schooling compared to those in Non-Muslim communities (Stewart, 2008). This

evidence of schooling gap in Muslim populations elsewhere has motivated some researchers to

5 The exceptions are Balhotra and Zamora (2007) and Rajaram and Jayachandran (2007). However, the authors document H-M gaps in school participation only for the 1990s.

55

explain the Muslim “disadvantage” in India in terms of norms, preferences and practices intrinsic

to Islamic faith that may inhibit household investment in secular education and skills valued in

the labour market. In case of India, for instance, it has been argued that educational

backwardness of the Muslims is partly owing to their preference for religious (over secular)

education (e.g. Borooah and Iyer, 2006). This assertion however ignores the fact that in some

Indian states with a large Muslim population, there are a sizable number of Islamic religious

schools that are state-recognized and hence official enrolment statistics account for attendance in

these Islamic faith schools.

Another popular explanation for low schooling of Muslims relates to the treatment of women in

Muslim societies. Compared to households of other faith groups, Muslim households may

discriminate against the education of girls. If true, then an educational gap will prevail between

Muslim and non-Muslim communities. However, available evidence using data from other

countries with large Muslim population is not conclusive of a systematic female disadvantage in

school participation. For instance, using Lebanese data, Hajj and Panizza (2008) find that there is

no significant difference between the education gender gap of Muslims and Christians. Rather,

both Muslim and Christian girls receive more education than their male counterparts. Similar

trends of reverse gender gap in school participation and completion are documented for

Bangladesh- another country with large Muslim population in South Asia (Asadullah and

Chaudhury, 2009).

For another reason, it is imperative to distinguish between the household’s religious affiliation

and region of residence in India. The North-South divide in norms and culture is a well-

documented phenomenon. Whilst stories of gender-exclusion are common in the North, research

using data from the South report almost no evidence of gender gaps in social outcomes (Dreze

and Sen, 1997). For instance, in an insightful study, Jejeebhoy and Sathar (2001) compare the

lives of women and explore dimensions of their autonomy in different regions of South Asia-

Punjab in Pakistan, and Uttar Pradesh in north India and Tamil Nadu in south India. They find

that while women's autonomy is constrained in all three settings, women in Tamil Nadu fare

considerably better than other women, irrespective of religion. Their findings do not support the

view that Muslim women exercise less autonomy in their own lives than do Hindu women in the

subcontinent. Rather, findings suggest that in the northern portion of the subcontinent, women's

56

control over their lives is more constrained than in the southern region. If true, a relevant

question is whether the H-M residual educational gap in India is specific to the northern states.

There are a number of studies that have focused on the question of inequalities in educational

outcomes and/or the provision of public goods across regions and states (e.g. Pal and Ghosh,

2007; 2008; Betancourt and Gleason, 2000). Betancourt and Gleason (2000) examined the

influence of state characteristics on the allocation mechanism of health and education services in

rural India. From their district level analysis, the authors reported evidence of selectivity in the

allocations against Muslims. However, we are not aware of any study which has looked at the

influence of state characteristics on educational performance of Muslim children in India using

household data.

Some suggestive evidence has been furnished in the recent government enquiry into the

educational poverty of Muslim communities in India. In its comprehensive evaluation of the

nature and causes of Muslim disadvantage in India, the Sachar Committee Report contradicts the

claim that lack of formal education amongst Muslims in India is indicative of a predilection for

religious education. Contrary to popular beliefs, it finds only a very small fraction (only 3%) of

Muslim children among the school-going age attending Madarsas. This finding is also consistent

with evidence for other South Asian countries with large Muslim populations and hence

questions the claim made by some researchers (e.g. see Borooah and Iyer, 2006) that low school

enrolment of Muslim children is owing to their attendance of religious schools that operate

outside the state recognized education sector. Nonetheless, Sachar Report lends support to the

supply-side related hypotheses outlined in the previous section. The report notes:

i) The access to government schools for Muslim children is limited. There is non-

availability of schools within easy reach for girls at lower levels.

ii) The proportion of the Muslim population is negatively correlated with the availability

of educational infrastructure in small villages. Villages with sizable Muslim population

are also under served in terms of public infrastructure such as (good quality) roads, local

bus stops and water supply facilities.

Amongst other things, the report documents (a) a lack of political participation and

representation of Muslims in governance structures, (b) under-representation of Muslims in

mainstream economic activities and occupations and (c) inequality in access to credit between

57

Muslims and non-Muslims (e.g. the average amount of bank loan disbursed to the Muslims is 2/3

of the amount disbursed to other minorities; in some cases it is reported to be half).

From the above findings of the Sachar Commission Report, one can therefore conjecture that the

Muslim disadvantage in India is likely to be explained by a confluence of demand as well as

supply-side factors. Apart from being poor and more credit constrained, Muslim households are

likely to concentrate in states that are institutionally (e.g. schools, banks, roads and so on) under-

provided by the government and/or the local communities. At the same time, much of their under

achievement could be reflecting the region-specific (i.e. North-South) cultural norms in India.

Testing all the hypotheses requires detailed household and community level information on

Muslim population across states in India. In the absence of such data, the objective of this paper

is to focus on the household factors and state influence in explaining Hindu-Muslim gap in

school participation and completion using nationally representative household survey data.

We begin by systematically documenting the educational profile of children belonging to Hindu

and Muslim households using two rounds (i.e. 1983 and 2004) of NSS data. Then estimates from

descriptive regression models are used to explain the source of H-M gaps in school participation

and attainment6 in terms of differences in household wealth, income and parental education on

one hand and state of residence on the other. In other words, we test whether the observed gap in

children’s education is capturing Hindu-Muslim differences in family background and/or is

driven by greater concentration of Muslims in certain states of India.

Muslim children in general have lower rates of completion than other groups within India

independent of their state of residence but not independent of family background. This is despite

the fact that labour market returns to post-primary schooling are very high. Thus, the fact that

Muslim households are likely to be more credit-constrained (which remains a valid explanation

for low completion), have adults with lower education levels etc. does seem to mitigate the

completion rates of Muslims. The lower rates of school completion amongst the Muslims suggest

that greater participation is hindered by a constrained supply of schools. To test the relative

importance of overall family background, we carried out a simple F-test. The size of the F

statistic however is smaller in 2004 when compared to its value in 1983. This is suggestive of the

possibility that there are other factors (beyond family background) that is more important in

6 This will be measured by collapsing the educational dummy variables into one variable so as to construct a linear measure of school completion. We will use NSS 1994 (52 round) data to test the validity of such linearization.

58

explaining schooling outcomes in India today. In this context, therefore, demographic, economic

and political characteristics of the region of residence are important.

In order to delve a little deeper into the state-level characteristics and to consider why the

Muslim disadvantage in school enrolment seems to increase when we allow for state controls, we

include a number of state-level socio-economic and political variables into our regression

model7. We will consider these in a little more detail in this section. To this end, we first merge

our NSS dataset with a state-level dataset which contain information on factors such as GDP,

land inequality, poverty, political competition and so on.

All state-level variables enter the regression model in lagged form8. For NSS 1983, state-level

political variable is the ratio of number of seats won by 2nd party to the number of seats won by

leading party, both averaged over the period 1973 – 1977. We began with two other political

variables – voter turnout and number of political parties with more than one seat but since voter

turnout is likely to be endogenous and the latter variable i.e. number of political parties with

more than one seat also reflects political competition but does so less clearly, we decided to

retain only one variable. State socioeconomic condition is proxied by a headcount ratio of

poverty. We began with a wider range of state economic variables including state agricultural

GDP (divided by 100,000 and averaged over 1973 – 1977, state-level poverty measured by the

headcount Index, % of HH with no land % of area owned by bottom 50% HH. However, these

are all essentially picking up the same effect i.e. state economic prosperity and we therefore

retained the variable that most closely reflects the factor that might influence decision-making

i.e. poverty levels. Similarly, we construct and merge lagged values of these variables with NSS

2004 round. All these variables are taken as an average over the period 1994 –1998.

Political competition increased attendance in school in 1983 and decreased it in 2004. Thus,

states in which the second party had a relatively high number of seats compared to the leading

party were states where attendance in school was higher in 1983. This was true also for Muslims

living in these states. However, the situation changed by 2004. By 2004, political competition

decreased attendance rather than increased it. There seems to have been a change in the nature of

political competition and in the objectives of these parties too. These results reinforce the

fractionalisation results because they do seem to indicate that states in which there was much

7 We hope to update this discussion by carrying out similar analysis for school completion. 8 Results are not reported but available from the authors upon request.

59

political competition were ones where education attendance was higher in 1983. Such political

competition could possibly have taken the form of tapping minority votes through universalising

education.

While poverty decreased attendance in 1983, it increased attendance in 2004. Again, this result

though surprising at first glance, can be explained by considering the changes in the Indian

economy during these decades. Studies indicate that the economy has grown very fast and the

opportunities of children to be employed are higher than they used to be. Poor children therefore

are likely to be working rather than attending school. In 1983, alternatives to education were

fewer and therefore children continued in school whether they wished to or not.

Minimize the level of drop-out among the school-going students of the minority community and

other Dalit communities, gradually, to a zero-level, within ten years of launching this project.

This is expected to inspire the large percentage of boys and girls to go to school and madarsas

rather than sit at home or engage in menial work. As per Sachar Report, more than 50% of the

Muslim boys and girls in rural areas and more than 60% of those in urban areas neither go to

schools nor to madarsas. The situation is better among Dalits of the majority community.

Twenty-five percent (25%) of Muslim children in the 6-14 years age group have either never

attended school or have dropped out. Drop out rates among Muslims are higher at the level of

primary, middle, and higher secondary. In premier colleges, only one out of twenty-five (4%)

under-graduate students and one out of fifty post- graduate (2%) students are Muslims.

National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), a central government body, confirmed on 19th

May 2010, that Muslims remain the most backward community on the educational front.

Muslims’ ratio in higher education is lower than even Scheduled Tribes (STs), considered most

backward. Out of every 100 Muslim in the education system, just 10 are enrolled in high school

and above. Similar ratio for STs is 11, for SCs 12 and for OBCs, it is 14.

The main reason for high dropout level is poverty (24%), and lack of community support

(culture). Parents fear that their wards may ultimately have to dropout, because of (a) poor

academic performance, and (b) lack of financial support. The immediate loss of earnings that

their wards may currently be bringing may be a great driving force. Some experiments by

themselves or by those they know might have resulted in their wards' failure in terminal or yearly

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exams. This validation of their fear adds to the perception that it is worthless wasting the time of

their wards in educational pursuits.

Education in the Muslim world which is supposed to play the noble role of Islamic awareness

has failed for various reasons: First main reason is that there are more existing secular schools,

colleges and universities compared to Islamic educational institutions. This is due to the

increasing demand for secular institutions that prepare students for employment, high salary,

fame, and other material or worldly benefits after graduation. More Muslim parents send their

children in secular schools especially in non-Muslim countries or universities run by non-

Muslims for the sake of "quality" worldly knowledge. They do not care whether their children

whose minds are still young and susceptible to cultural shock will adopt non-Islamic cultural

values. Second the Islamic curricular offerings in most Islamic educational institutions are not

based on authentic knowledge of Islam – i.e., according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Third,

Islamic curricular offerings do not help develop the students: 1) to have the right aqeedah and

eeman (firm belief and faith) that will make them sincere, devoted and God-fearing Muslims; 2)

to have ideal personality or righteous manners and conduct that will make them attain success

and peace with themselves, their families, neighbors, friends, the Muslim leaders or those who

are in the authority, peace with other fellow Muslims as well as non-Muslims in the society

(local, national and international level); and 3) to be able to do Da'wah effectively or convey the

true Message of Islam which is Tawheed (Absolute Oneness of Allah) according to the Qur'an

and the Sunnah. Fourth, there is no international accrediting body in the Muslim world that could

screen the curricular offerings in Islamic Studies among different Islamic educational institutions

to ensure that subjects related to these three important courses in Islamic Studies, namely: 1)

Aqeedah, 2) Personality Development and 3) Da'wah) are offered in the light of authentic

sources. Fifth, in general, the Muslim educators, policy makers and curriculum development

makers are not responsive to the needs of the Muslim students taking Islamic Studies in coping

with modern technological advancement and globalization of knowledge.

The educational system in the Muslim world, which follows the western secular system of

education, has been preparing every learner primarily toward success in this materialistic world,

obviously in response to the fast changing science and technology. As a result, school or

educational institutions in the Muslim world offer various non-Islamic courses which are being

61

loaded with so many subjects and continue to undergo revisions to keep abreast with change and

modernity. More and more educational institutions are being established towards this end.

Unfortunately, most of these schools, colleges and universities do not offer well-balanced

curricula that will develop learners to achieve success both in this world and the life hereafter.

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Islamic religious schools known as

madrasas (or madrassahs) in the Middle East, Central, and Southeast Asia have been of

increasing interest to U.S. foreign policy makers. Some allege ties between madrasas and

terrorist organizations, such as Al Qaeda, and assert that these religious schools promote Islamic

extremism and militancy. Others maintain that most of these religious schools have been blamed

unfairly for fostering anti-U.S. sentiments and for producing terrorists…

Development Backlog must be cleared.

Lecture by Dr. Abusaleh Sharief, Member-Secretary, Rajinder Sachar Panel

By A Staff Writer

The report reveals that deprivation of Muslims is maximum in four states of Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, West Bengal and Assam where 60 per cent of India’s Muslims reside.

It is for the first time that a Government appointed panel has identified the educational and socio-

economic status of Indian Muslims in comparison with other communities. Prime Minister,

Manmohan Singh was very clear in his mind that the Muslims’ lot must be known vis-à-vis

several categories of Indian population. We had eminent sociologist, T. K. Oommen,

management expert, Dr. Rakesh Basanth, and planner and financial allocationist, M.A. Basith.

Chairman, Dr. Rajinder Sachar provided the legal framework.

The Panel was able to collect the most recent and authentic data. It has to be borne in mind that

data is the first step to planning and development of people. The Reservation Act for Muslims

passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly was quashed by the Supreme Court for not being

backed by adequate research data establishing backwardness of the community. It did not per se

reject the reservation. It is why the focus of the Sachar Panel was to establish the backwardness

of the Muslims and do it in a way that does not raise passion. Use of very sane language is the

hallmark of the report.

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Karnataka is one state where Muslims have done very well and the State has cared for its

minorities almost on par with mainstream population. Its distinction lies in providing a leveling

playing field for the Muslims. I am terrified to talk about Muslims in West Bengal who are not

represented even to the tune of two per cent in the Government jobs, while they represent almost

a quarter of the population.

Our report reveals that deprivation of Muslims is maximum in four states of Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar, West Bengal and Assam where 60 per cent of India’s Muslims reside. Overall, the

community seems to be lagging two steps behind others. If it has to make any advance, it has to

first clear the backlog. Muslim rate of growth is lower than that of Dalits. Dalits are going to

improve further in the next 50 years and their presence on the economic and political scene is

going to be felt in a significant way.

Political participation of Muslims has gone down to less than half their demographic strength

during the last 60 years. Though all of it could not be due to discrimination, it has to be said that

it is partly responsible. Even in an organization like Indian Railways, which employs 14 lakh

people, Muslim representation is merely four per cent. Do they not find Muslims for appointment

as gang men? Yet, no one should accuse any government, minister or prime minister for this

state of affairs.

Muslims have lagged behind in modern education. Twenty five per cent of Muslim children drop

out of school by 7th standard. Dalit dropout rate is far less because schools in their areas have no

vacancies, they are provided with midday meals. But there were lot of deficiencies on this score

in Muslim areas. We found Sanskrit teachers appointed as headmasters in Urdu schools in Uttar

Pradesh. Among Hindu upper-castes, one among 180 students goes for post graduate degree,

whereas among Muslims, only one among 1000 students opts to do post graduate courses.

Muslims have not been able to benefit from Panchayati Raj system. Spatially thin Muslim

population hampers their election to Panchayat bodies. Andhra Pradesh has recently enacted a

law whereby religious and linguistic minorities that fail to get representation through electoral

process are co-opted as members in the panchayat. So thousands of Muslims and Tamilians were

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able to get Panchayat represe-ntation. But a more grim picture is painted by social scientist

Yoginder Yadav of CSDS who informed the Sachar panel that voting share of Muslims is

declining over successive elections. Muslims need to arrest this by whatever means they could.

We have also taken note of the fact that several constituencies with preponderance of Muslims

are reserved for the SC or ST. Gerrymandering of such electoral segments is also another

devious ploy by the bureaucracy. Taking all these factors into account, the panel has

recommended constitution of an Equal Opportunities Commission which could be approached

by such individuals and families who harbour such grievances in matters of empowerment. For

instance, tenders floated by several departments may only be advertised in Kannada language in

Karnataka. Perhaps minorities like Tamilians or Urdu speaking people remain deprived because

Tamil or Urdu dailies do not carry such advertisements.

Resistance to change and modernity is a big bane for Muslims. Look for instance, the incidence

of polio among Muslims in three districts of Uttar Pradesh and two districts of Bihar. It appears

that at a time when polio has been eradicated from the entire world, it is only in these districts

that all the world’s polio victims exist. Voluntary agencies working in these areas have related to

us the apprehensions prevalent among the Muslims regarding to the polio drops.

There are fewer NGOs or voluntary agencies from among Muslims working for diverse causes.

Unfortunately, Muslims consider mosques and madrassas as voluntary organisations. We need to

look at other communities and learn from them. There are few anganwadis in Muslim localities

in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Our report reveals that more Muslims are self-employed and their productivity is more than

others. If they have more credit access, linkages to market, they could do still better. The report

also finds that Muslim petty businesses have no fixed location. This affects their profitability.

Perhaps this could be addressed by civic bodies providing place for such businesses by marking

areas.

Only through such measures we can expect the playing field to be equal. Muslims would have to

fit in the economy of the country which is poised to grow at 10 per cent for the next 15 years.

During an open session, when pointed out that Registrar of Societies raise objections against all

members being from the same community, Dr. Abusaleh Sharief said there was no such law that

bars registration of such societies. He said one should seek a Constitutional reference from the

64

Registrars in such situation. After all, artisans in Bidriware in Bidar or Nagara shoes in Jaipur

would hail from the single community’, he remarked.

(Dr. Abusaleh Sharief, chief economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research,

delivered the lecture at a seminar organized by the Popular Front of India at Bangalore on

January 15, 2007. Another member of the Sachar panel Mr. M. A. Basith also participated in the

discussion.)

Muslims mainly go for languages like Gujarati and Hindi, followed by social sciences like

economics.

Close on the heels of the Sachar Committee report, in Gujarat, Muslims are lagging behind in

higher education. Of the total number of students doing their post-graduation at Gujarat

University, only 5.1 percent are Muslims compared to 93.7 percent Hindus.

There are about 14,000 post-graduate students in Gujarat University. Of them, only five percent

are Muslims. And of these students, 32 percent are from the other backward caste (OBC)

category.

At M. S. University in Vadodara, only 10.62 percent of post-graduate students are Muslims,

majority of them studying humanities, of them only 3 percent have been enrolled for Business

Management, while the faculty of technology and engineering has only 1.70 percent Muslims.

The Committee in August last year, had sent letters to institutions across India seeking data on

Muslim population. The purpose was to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational

status of Muslims in India. Reacting to the findings, professor of sociology at Gujarat University,

Gaurang Jani says, “compared to the 12 percent Muslim population of Ahmedabad, a mere five

percent presence at the higher education level is a poor show. Had there been reservation for the

OBC students, the situation would have been even worse.”

The survey said that the highest number of Muslims opt for language courses and the lowest for

business management course. “Muslims mainly work in unorganised sector, only a few work in

companies. It is not surprising that many of them do not opt for business management,” says

Jani.

“Even in Arts, Muslims mainly go for languages like Gujarati and Hindi, followed by social

65

sciences like economics because they look for softer options and are also not properly guided to

choose a career which can give them returns,” says professor of sociology at M.S University,

N.Rajaram.

There is a dearth of good schools and colleges managed by Muslims in Gujarat. General schools

and colleges are expensive for Muslims as most of the students come from lower middle class

families and students from economically weak Muslim families do not get a chance to get on in

life.

This situation demands intervention from the Central government in terms of financial grants,

infrastructure development and policy amendments. The small number of Muslim-run schools is

due to impediments involved in obtaining government grants as well as permission for opening

educational institutions.

To solve the problem, education for Muslim girls till graduation should be made free of cost,

apart from establishing schools in Muslim dominated areas on the pattern of Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalaya and primary Schools and professional courses in madrasas.

14000 Post-Graduates in Gujarat University Only Five Percent are Muslims. By Abdul Hafiz

Lakhani, Ahmedabad

66

Muslims mainly go for languages like Gujarati and Hindi, followed by social sciences like

economics. Close on the heels of the Sachar Committee report, in Gujarat, Muslims are lagging

behind in higher education. Of the total number of students doing their post-graduation at

Gujarat University, only 5.1 percent are Muslims compared to 93.7 percent Hindus.

There are about 14,000 post-graduate students in Gujarat University. Of them, only five percent

are Muslims. And of these students, 32 percent are from the other backward caste (OBC)

category.

At M. S. University in Vadodara, only 10.62 percent of post-graduate students are Muslims,

majority of them studying humanities, of them only 3 percent have been enrolled for Business

Management, while the faculty of technology and engineering has only 1.70 percent Muslims.

The Committee in August last year, had sent letters to institutions across India seeking data on

Muslim population. The purpose was to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational

status of Muslims in India.

Reacting to the findings, professor of sociology at Gujarat University, Gaurang Jani says,

“compared to the 12 percent Muslim population of Ahmedabad, a mere five percent presence at

the higher education level is a poor show. Had there been reservation for the OBC students, the

situation would have been even worse.” The survey said that the highest number of Muslims opt

for language courses and the lowest for business management course. “Muslims mainly work in

unorganised sector, only a few works in companies. It is not surprising that many of them do not

opt for business management,” says Jani. “Even in Arts, Muslims mainly go for languages like

Gujarati and Hindi, followed by social sciences like economics because they look for softer

options and are also not properly guided to choose a career which can give them returns,” says

professor of sociology at M.S University, N.Rajaram. There is a dearth of good schools and

colleges managed by Muslims in Gujarat. General schools and colleges are expensive for

Muslims as most of the students come from lower middle class families and students from

economically weak Muslim families do not get a chance to get on in life.

This situation demands intervention from the Central government in terms of financial grants,

infrastructure development and policy amendments. The small number of Muslim-run schools is

due to impediments involved in obtaining government grants as well as permission for opening

educational institutions.

To solve the problem, education for Muslim girls till graduation should be made free of cost,

67

apart from establishing schools in Muslim dominated areas on the pattern of Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalaya and primary Schools and professional courses in madrasas.

A study by Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of Public,

Parochial, Private non-parochial, Islamic, Virtual Islamic, or Home Schools in the United States.

Education is the birth right of every Muslim and Muslimah. Islam puts considerable emphasis on

its followers to acquire knowledge. Investment in education is the best investment one can make,

because it eventually leads to intellectual property. Intellectual property is the intangible

property, which no one can steal or destroy. This is the property on which no Government can

levy a tax. It was as a result of application of knowledge that Muslims were the superpower of

the world for twelve centuries.

Today, globally Muslims have the lowest literacy rate. Education of Muslim children in the west

has both opportunities and challenges.

In the Western World the purpose of education is to provide for the economic prosperity of a

nation. At a personal level the purpose of education is to acquire academic and professional skills

that enable one to earn a respectable living with riches and fame, and also a luxurious and

comfortable life. For a Muslim providing economic prosperity of a nation does not contradict

his/her Islamic beliefs, however focusing the goals of education solely for the purpose of money

making is unpalatable. Muslims want to impart Islamic education.

"Education should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of man through training of

the human spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and senses. The training imparted to a Muslim

must be such that faith is infused into the whole of his/her personality and creates in him/her an

emotional attachment to Islam and enables him to follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and be governed

by Islamic system of values willingly and joyfully so that he/she may proceed to the realization

of his/her status as Khalifatullah to whom God has promised the authority of the universe."

Problems in Islamic Schools

• No Adaab or Islamic etiquette or behavior

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• Parents want teachers to be lenient • Some girls and boys meet secretly in the basement. • They have girl-friends and boy-friends • They do smoke • Profanity is written on the walls, desks, blackboards, etc. • Behave roughly: laughing, talking, screaming, rip off their Hijab on the buses. • Discipline: Behavior is no different from the Public Schools. • Teachers are not fair. Spoiled kids as their parents are rich or important • Less school activities for girls. Little opportunity to interact with other students. • Islamic schools are running without an Islamic curriculum, often without a syllabus • No textbooks. • No qualified and trained teachers or certified teachers. (Quality in education is not

possible without good teachers.) • Those who attend Muslim high schools do not fare better in college. • Non-Muslim teachers who are qualified and certified. (Live-in boyfriend, rejects

institution of marriage. Wear tight and revealing outfit. Promote gay agenda, anti-religion

agenda, or insensitive to Islamic values and events) • Qualified and certified Muslim teachers work in Public schools. As Islamic schools do

not offer viable salaries, benefits (pension health benefits, etc.) • When they leave Islamic schools and graduate from colleges, some of them, they do

marry non-Muslims as the Muslim community and their parents have exerted zero

influence on them. • Chronic shortage of space, science labs, auditoriums, gyms, playgrounds, libraries,

bathrooms. • High turnover rate (30 to 40 percent annually) of teachers. • Parents' fear Islamic schools trade off academics for Islamic environment. • Organization, planning and discipline -suffer most in Islamic schools. • Governance is the big reason why most Islamic schools suffer • Do not develop an autonomous and unique decision-making (governance) structure • School Boards require training in how to run a school • School Boards rarely include women

69

• Parents do not play a part in Governance structure • No qualified administrators • Some parents worry Islamic schools offer an inferior quality of education. • Children are not prepared to face competitiveness and the challenges of the modern

world. • Seriously lacking in Muslim literature and culture. • For many Muslim families, Islamic schools are not affordable. • In sparse Muslim population areas, Islamic schools are not financially viable. • Very few trained Muslim teachers in special education or none

70

DATA ANALYSIS

&

INTERPRETATION

Data ATable No

Valid N

J

T

Chart N

As the a

family an

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Analysis ao. 3.1 Famil

Nuclear

Joint

Total

o. 1

above chart

nd 16% fami

Nuclea

84%

and Interly

Fr

indicates, fr

ily belongs f

r

%

Ty

rpretatio

requency

42

8

50

rom all resp

from joint fa

Joint

16%

ype of Fam

on

pondents 84%

amily.

mily

Percent

84.0

16.0

100.0

% of the re

Type 

spondents b

of Family

belong to nu

71

uclear

Ta

V

C

From the

occupatio

responde

responde

able No. 3.2

Valid Busin

Job

Farmi

Total

Chart No.2

e above char

ons having w

ents having

ents doing fa

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2 Occupatio

ness

ing

rt it can be de

which are B

their own b

arming.

Business

70%

n

Freque

35

8

7

50

epicted that

Business, Job

business, 16

Job

16%

Oc

ency

from the sel

b and Farmin

6% of the r

Farm

14

ccupation

Pe

7

1

lected respon

ng. In that 7

respondents

ing

4%

ercent

70.0

16.0

14.0

100.0

ndents’ main

70% which i

doing job

Occupa

nly three typ

is majority o

and 14% o

ation

72

pes of

of the

of the

73

Table No. 3.3 Income

Frequency Percent

Valid 2,000-4,000 9 18.0

5,000-7,000 17 34.0

8,000-11,000 21 42.0

12,000-15,000 3 6.0 Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 3

The above chart and table shows that from the all respondents 18% of respondents having `

2,000/- to ` 4,000/- monthly income, and 34% of the respondents having ` 5,000/- to ` 7,000/- and

majority of the respondents which is 42% having ` 8,000 to ` 11,000/- monthly income and the

least respondents which is 6% having ` 12,000/- to ` 15,000/- monthly income.

18%

34%

42%

6%0

5

10

15

20

25

2,000‐4,000 5,000‐7,000 8,000‐11,000 12,000‐15,000

Income

Income

Table No

Valid N

5

1

1

2

T

Chart N

The abov

responde

14% of r

36% of t

group of

responde

0

5

10

15

20

25

o. 3.4 Famil

No contribut

5,000-9,000

10,000-14,00

15,000-19,00

20,000-24,00

Total

o. 4

ve chart and

ents are child

respondents’

the responde

f the respon

ents having h

42%

ly Income

tion

00

00

00

table indicat

dren who ar

family inco

ents having

ndents who

highest famil

14%

Freque

21

7

13

4

5

50

tes the total

re not contri

ome go up to

`10,000/- to

having `15,

ly income `2

26%

8

Family In

ency

3

0

family incom

ibuting any k

o ` 5,000/- to

o `14,000/- m

,000/- to `19

20,000/- to `2

8% 10%

ncome

Pe

4

2

1

me, majority

kind of effo

o ` 9,000/- th

monthly fam

9,000/- fam

24,000/-.

%

ercent

42.0

14.0

26.0

8.0

10.0

100.0

y of the respo

ort in the fam

hrough child

mily income

mily income

Family Inco

ondents, i.e.

mily income

dren contribu

e, 8% is the

and 10% o

me

74

42%

e, and

ution,

least

of the

Ta

Chart N

From the

children

education

able No. 3.5

Valid No

1

2

To

o. 5

e above tabl

are not get

n and 12% o

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Children ar

one

otal

le it can be

tting educati

of the respon

None

68%

Ch

re getting ed

Freq

depicted tha

ion while 20

ndents’ two c

One

20%

hildren a

ducation

quency

34

10

6

50

at from the a

0% of the r

children are

Two

12

re gettin

all responde

respondents

getting educ

o

2%

ng educa

Percent

68.0

20.0

12.0

100.0

ents 68% of

’ only one

cation.

ation

Children educatio

the respond

child are ge

are getting on

75

dents’

etting

Table No

Valid 1

2

3

T

Chart N

As above

child has

while m

education

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

o. 3.6 No. of

or more

Total

o. 6

e chart and

s dropped th

ajority of th

n.

1

22%

No. of ch

f children d

Fre

table indica

he education

he responde

2

38%

hildren dro

dropped edu

equency

11

19

20

50

ates that from

, 38% of the

ents that is

3 o

%

opped edu

ucation in th

m all the re

e respondent

40%, their

r more

40%

ucation in t

he family

Percent

22.0

38.0

40.0

100.0

espondents 2

ts’ two child

3 or more

the family

No. of

22% of the r

dren have dr

children h

f dropped 

respondents

ropped educ

have dropped

76

’ one

cation

d the

Table No

Valid M

F

T

Chart no

As the ab

40% of th

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

o. 3.7 Gende

Male

emale

Total

o.7

bove chart r

he responden

Male

60

Gende

er of childr

Fre

revealed that

nts are fema

0%

er of childr

en who drop

equency

30

20

50

t from the a

ale.

Female

40%

ren who dr

pped educa

ll responden

%

ropped ed

ation

Percent

60.0

40.0

100.0

nts 60% of t

ducation

Who 

the responde

dropped?

ents are male

77

e and

Table No

Valid N

1

2

3

T

Chart N

From the

having n

male chi

have drop

who have

0

5

10

15

20

25

o. 3.8 No. of

None

1

2

3 or more

Total

o.8

e above table

no male chil

ld who has

pped educat

e dropped ed

None

22%

No. of ma

f male child

F

e and chart it

ld who have

dropped edu

tion and 6%

ducation.

1

30%

le child dr

d drop out in

requency

11

15

21

3

50

t can be dep

e dropped ed

ucation, 42%

are respond

2

42%

op out in t

n the family

icted that fro

ducation wh

% of the resp

dents who ha

3 or more

6%

the family

y

Percent

22.0

30.0

42.0

6.0

100.0

om the all re

hile 30% of

pondents ha

ave 3 or mor

Male

espondents 2

f the family

aving two m

re male child

e dropped

22% of the fa

having only

male children

dren in the fa

78

amily

y one

n who

amily

Table No

Valid N

1

2

3

T

Chart N

From the

having n

female ch

have dro

family w

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

o. 3.9 No. of

None

or more

Total

o. 9

e above table

no female ch

hild who has

opped educa

who have dro

None

32%

No. o

f female chi

Fr

e and chart it

hild who hav

s dropped ed

ation and 6%

pped educat

1

54%

of female c

ild drop out

equency

16

27

4

3

50

t can be dep

ve dropped e

ducation, 8%

% are respon

tion.

2 3 

8%

child drop 

t in the fami

icted that fro

education w

% of the resp

ndents who

or more

6%

out in the 

ily

Percent

32.0

54.0

8.0

6.0

100.0

om the all re

while 54% of

pondents hav

have 3 or m

family

Female

espondents 3

f the family

ving two fem

more female

e dropped

32% of the fa

having only

male children

e children in

79

amily

y one

n who

n the

Table No

Valid 7

8

9

1

T

Chart N

As the ab

14% of t

responde

0

5

10

15

20

25

o. 3.10 Drop

7 class

8 class

9 class

10 class

Total

o. 10

bove table a

he responde

ents which id

7 class

24%

p out after t

and chart in

ents dropped

d 48% dropp

8 class

14%

Drop out 

the standard

Frequenc

12

7

7

24

50

dicates that

d after 8th sta

ped after 10th

9 class 10

14%

after the s

ds

cy

24% of the

andard and ah standard.

0 class

48%

standards

Percent

24.0

14.0

14.0

48.0

100.0

e respondent

also after 9th

Aftestan

t

ts dropped a

standard an

er which ndard

after 7th stan

nd majority o

80

ndard,

of the

81

Table No. 3.11 Past scholastic performance

Frequency Percent

Valid 45%-49% 7 14.0

50%-54% 23 46.0

55%-59% 15 30.0

60%-64% 3 6.0

70%-74% 2 4.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 11

As above chart and table indicates that 14% of the respondents passed between 45% and 49%

and majority of the respondents that is 46% had passed between 50% and 54%, 30% of the

respondents passed 55% and 59%, 6% of the respondents passed 60% and 64%,while 4% of the

respondents passed with 70% to 74%.

14%

46%

30%

6% 4% 0

5

10

15

20

25

45%‐49% 50%‐54% 55%‐59% 60%‐64% 70%‐74%

Past scholastic performance

How much % were coming?

82

Table No. 3.12 Personal reasons for leaving school

Frequency Percent

Valid None 16 32.0

Child doesn't like

study 11 22.0

Fail 17 34.0

Low I.Q. level 1 2.0

No further facility to

study in school 5 10.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 12

As the above chart and table revealed that 32% of the respondents have none of the personal

reasons effecting, 22% of the respondents dropped the education because of the child doesn’t

like study, 34% of the respondents dropped the education because of being fail, 2% of the

respondents dropped the education because of low I.Q. level and 10% of the respondents

dropped the education because of no further facility to study in the same school.

32%

22%

34%

2%

10%

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

None Child doesn't like study

Fail Low I.Q. level No further facility to study in school

Personal reasons for leaving school

Personal reasons for leaving school

Table No

Valid N

L

T

Chart N

As the a

reasons f

of low le

o. 3.13 Econ

None

Low family inco

Total

o. 13

above chart

for leaving t

vel of family

nomic Reaso

ome

and table in

the school an

y income.

ons for leav

Frequency

ndicates that

nd 16% of t

ving school

42

8

50

t 84% of th

the responde

Percent

e responden

ents have dro

84.0

16.0

100.0

nts have not

opped the ed

t any econom

ducation bec

83

mical

cause

Table No

Valid N

F

d

a

S

u

T

Chart N

As the ab

reason fo

admissio

education

o. 3.14 Scho

None

For migratio

difficult to g

admission in

School educ

useful

Total

o. 14

bove chart a

or leaving th

n in the scho

n isn’t usefu

2

Schoo

ool related r

on,

get

n school

ation isn't

and table ind

he school, 2%

ool so dropp

ul for the care

96%

2% 2%

l related re

reasons for l

Frequen

dicates that 9

% of the res

ped the educ

eer.

easons for

leaving scho

cy

48

1

1

50

96% of the

pondents ge

cation and 2%

r leaving sc

None

For mget ad

Schoousefu

ool

Percent

respondents

et migrated a

% of the res

chool

e

migration, difficdmission in sch

ol education isul

96.0

2.0

2.0

100.0

s have not an

and it was d

pondents tho

cult to hool

n't 

ny school re

difficult to ge

ought that sc

84

elated

et the

chool

85

Table No. 3.15 Social reasons for leaving school

Frequency Percent Valid None 30 60.0 Needed in the family

business-farming 2 4.0

Family against of education 11 22.0

Early marriages for girls 1 2.0 Friends also didn’t go to

school 4 8.0

No girl company for girls 2 4.0 Total 50 100.0

Chart No.15 Social reasons for leaving school

As the above chart and table indicates that 60% of the respondents have not any social reasons

for dropping the education, 22% of the respondents because of family members objected, 8% of

the respondents dropped the education because friends were also not used to go t o the school,

4% of the respondents dropped the education because two reasons (1) no girl company for the

girl to go school and (2) child was needed in the family business-farming and 2% of the

respondents dropped the education because early marriages for girls.

None60%

Needed in the family business‐

farming4%

Family against of education

22%

Early marriages for girls2%

Friends also didn’t go to 

school8%

No girl company for girls4%

Table No

Valid N

N

M

M

n

T

Chart N

As the ab

for dropp

facility in

school w

05101520253035404550

o. 3.16 Relig

None

Not further f

Madresa

Muslim scho

near

Total

o. 16

bove chart an

ping the scho

n the Madres

was not near t

Non

9

Re

gious reason

facility in

ool is

nd table indi

ool, 2% of th

sa and 2% o

to the houses

e Not i

96%

eligious rea

Religiou

ns for leavin

Frequenc

icates that 96

he responden

f the respond

s.

further facilityin Madresa

2%

asons for l

s reasons for l

ng school

cy

48

1

1

50

6% of the re

nts have drop

dents droppe

y  Muslim scnea

2

leaving sch

eaving school

Percent

spondents h

pped the edu

ed the educa

chool is r

2%

hool

t

96.0

2.0

2.0

100.0

ave not any

ucation for n

ation because

religious rea

not the furthe

e the Muslim

86

asons

er

m

Table No

Valid

Chart N

As the ab

dropping

children

doing oth

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

o. 3.17 Child

At home

Job

Business

Other

Total

o. 17

bove chart a

g the educati

are doing bu

her work afte

At home

52%

Child’s a

d’s activity

Fr

s

and table ind

on, 10% of t

usiness after

er dropping

Job

10%

activity a

after dropp

equency

2

1

5

dicates that

the responde

dropping th

the educatio

Busin

%

3

after dro

ping out the

6

5

5

4

0

52% of the

ents’ childre

he education

on like gettin

ess O

0%

opping o

e education

Percent

respondents

n are doing j

and 8% of t

ng training or

Other

8%

out

52.0

10.0

30.0

8.0

100.0

s’ children a

job, 30% of

the responde

r else.

are at home

f the respond

ents’ children

87

after

dents’

n are

Table No

Valid L

S

M

T

Chart N

As the ab

type of w

responde

0

10

20

30

40

50

o. 3.18 Type

Labour

Supervisor

Mechanic

Total

o. 18

bove chart an

work, 6% of t

ents doing m

Labou

90

e of job

Freq

nd table indi

the responde

mechanic type

ur S

0%

Ty

W

quency

45

3

2

50

icates that 90

ents’ childre

e of work.

Supervisor

6%

ype of jo

Which type of j

0% of the re

en are doing

Mechan

4%

ob

job?

Percent

spondents’ c

supervisor ty

nic

%

90.0

6.0

4.0

100.0

children are

ype of job an

doing labou

nd 4% of the

88

ur

e

Table No

Valid Y

N

T

Chart N

From the

to school

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

o. 3.19 Wish

Yes

No

Total

o. 19

e above table

l and 44% of

h to go to sc

Fr

e and chart i

f the respond

Yes

56%

Wish

Do y

chool

equency

it can be dep

dents do not

h to go to s

you like to go a

28

22

50

picted that 5

like to go to

No

44%

school

at school

Percent

6% of the re

o school.

56.0

44.0

100.0

espondents aare still like

89

to go

90

Table No. 3.20 If yes, then efforts for it

Frequency Percent Valid Not tried 42 84.0 Will try to give exam 3 6.0 Tried but

unsuccessful 3 6.0

Will try to provide

training 2 4.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 20 If yes, then efforts for it

From the above table and chart it can be depicted that 84% of the respondents have not any try

for getting back to the school, 6% of the respondents tried but they didn’t get success and the

same number of the respondents will try to give the exam and 4% of the respondents will try

provide any vocational training to their children.

Not tried84%

Will try to give exam

6%

Tried but unsuccessful

6%

Will try to provide training4%

Table No

Valid Y

N

T

Chart N

As the a

advantag

advantag

0510152025303540

o. 3.21 Adva

Yes

No

Total

o. 21

above chart

ges of educa

ges of the edu

050505050

A

ntage of educa

Freque

t and table

ation and 2

ucation.

Yes

80%

Advanta

Is any ad

ation

ency

40

10

50

indicates th

0% of the

ge of ed

dvantage of ed

P

hat 80% of

respondents

No

20%

ducation

ducation? 

Percent

f the respon

thought th

n 

80.0

20.0

100.0

ndents thoug

hat there is

ght that the

not any kin

91

ere is

nd of

Table No

Valid Y N T

Chart N

As the a

gives a b

doesn’t g

o. 3.22 High

Yes

No

Total

o. 22

above chart

better positio

give a better

01020304050

Higher 

her educatio

and table in

on in the so

position in t

Yes

92%

educatith

Higher educat

on- a better

Frequency

ndicates that

ociety and 8%

the society.

on‐ a behe socie

tion‐ a better p

position in

y

46

4

50

t 92% of th

% of the res

No

8%

etter posety

position in soc

the society

Percen

he responden

spondents th

sition in

iety

nt

92.0

8.0

100.0

nts thought

hought that

higher educ

higher educ

92

cation

cation

93

Table No. 3.23 Impact of higher education on child’s mind

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 17 34.0

No 33 66.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 23 Impact of higher education on child’s mind

From the above table and chart it can be depicted that 66% of the respondents perceive that there

is not any side effect of the education on the child’s mind and 34% of the respondents thought

that there is side effect of the education on the child’s mind.

34%

66%

Yes No

Table No

Valid N

M

T

Chart N

As the ab

effect hap

is mental

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

o. 3.24 Type

None

Mental effec

Total

o. 24

bove chart an

ppen with hi

l effect happ

None

68%

e of effects

F

ct

nd table indi

igher educat

pens with hig

M

%

Typ

requency

icates that 68

tion getting s

gher educatio

Mental effect

32%

pe of effec

P

34

16

50

8% of the re

students and

on getting st

cts 

Percent

68.0

32.0

100.0

spondents th

d 32% of the

tudents.

Which typaffects? 

0

0

0

hink that not

respondents

pe of 

t any kind of

s think that t

94

f side

here

95

Table No. 3.25 Higher education- less religiousness

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 6 12.0

No 44 88.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 25

From the above table and chart it can be depicted that 88% of the respondents don’t think that

through getting higher education less religiousness is happened and 12% of the respondents think

that through getting higher education less religiousness is happened.

12%

88%

Higher education‐ less religiousness 

Yes No

Table No

Valid

Chart N

From the

education

0

10

20

30

40

50

o. 3.26 Educ

Yes

No

Total

o.26

e above table

n gets chang

Yes

100

cation - cha

e and chart it

ge in the life.

0%

Educati

ange in life

Frequenc

t can be depi

.

No

0%

ion ‐ chang

cy

50

0

50

icted that tot

ge in life

Percen

tal responden

Educachang

nt

100

0

100

nts’ means 1

ation ‐ge in life

100% think t

96

that

97

Table No. 3.27 Types of changes in the life

Frequency Percent Valid Helps in social &

daily life 7 14.0

Not cheated 4 8.0 Making license &

other 3 6.0

Helps in social & economic life 17 34.0

Helps in read & write 14 28.0 Helps in roaming &

tour 1 2.0

Helps to handle all problem 3 6.0

Think well than uneducated 1 2.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 27 Types of changes in the life

As the above chart and table indicates that 62% of the respondents think that education helps in

the social & economical life and in reading & writing, 14% of the respondents think that

education helps in social and in daily life, 10% of the respondents think that educated people can

think well than uneducated people and nobody can cheat them, 8% of the respondents think that

education helps in making license for driving and roaming or in tour and 6% of the respondent

think that education helps to handle all the problem.

Helps in social & daily life14%

Not cheated8%

Making license & other6%

Helps in social & economic life

34%

Helps in read & write28%

Helps in roaming & 

tour2%

Helps to handle all problem

6%

Think well than uneducated

2%

Table No

Valid Y

N

T

Chart N

From the

vocationa

education

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

o. 3.28 Prov

Yes

No

Total

o. 28

e above tab

al education

n to their chi

Yes

36

Provid

vided vocati

Fr

ble and cha

n to the chil

ild.

%

ded vocati

ional educat

equency

18

32

50

art it can b

ld while 64%

No

64%

onal educ

tion to the c

Per

8

2

0

e depicted

% of the res

ation to th

child

rcent

36.0

64.0

100.0

that 36% o

spondents h

he child

Provided education

of the respo

have not pro

vocational n to child?

ondents prov

ovided vocat

98

vided

tional

Table No

Valid N

Y

N

T

Chart N

As the ab

they hav

while 42%

0

5

10

15

20

25

o. 3.29 Perc

Not applicab

Yes

No

Total

o.29

bove chart a

e already pr

% of the resp

Not applicable

36%

P

ception abou

F

ble

and table in

rovided this

pondents do

e Yes

22%

Perceptiovocat

ut providing

requency

dicates that

vocation ed

on’t want to p

No

%

42

on aboutional ed

g vocational

18

11

21

50

36% of the

ducation, 22

provide the v

o

2%

ut providducation

l education

Percent

e respondent

% of the res

vocational e

ding n

do you likprovide it

36.0

22.0

42.0

100.0

ts are not ap

spondents w

ducation.

ke to t?

pplicable bec

want to prov

99

cause

ide it

Table No

Valid V

e

D

e

T

Chart N

As the a

education

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

o. 3.30 Prefe

Vocational

education

Degree level

education

Total

o.30

above chart

n and 26% o

Vocational ed

74

Prefe

ference to th

l

t and table

of the respon

ducation

4%

erence to t

he type of ed

Frequen

indicates th

ndents prefer

Degree leveeducation

26%

the type of

ducation

ncy

37

13

50

hat 74% of

rred degree l

el 

%

f educatio

Percen

f the respon

evel educati

n

Whiceducayou p

nt

74.0

26.0

100.0

ndents’ pref

ion.

h ation do preferred?

ferred vocat

100

tional

Table No

Valid Y

N

T

Chart N

From the

should e

child.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

o. 3.31 Educ

Yes

No

Total

o. 31

e above tabl

ducate to th

Yes

94

cation - pro

Fre

le and chart

heir girl chil

4%

Educatio

ovided to gir

equency

4

5

it can be d

ld and 6% o

No

6%

on ‐ provid

rls

7

3

0

epicted that

of the respo

%

ed to girls

Percent

94% of the

ondents don

Ep

94.0

6.0

100.0

e respondent

’t think to e

ducation ‐provided …

ts think that

educate their

101

t they

r girl

102

Table No. 3.32 If yes, then the level of education

Frequency Percent

Valid Illiterate 3 6.0

Secondary 26 52.0

Higher

secondary 12 24.0

Graduate 6 12.0

Post graduate 3 6.0

Total 50 100.0

Chart No. 32 If yes, then the level of education

As the above chart and table indicates that 6% of the respondents think not to provide any level

of education, 52% of the respondents think to educate their child up to secondary level, 24% of

the respondents think to educate their child up to higher secondary level, 12% of the respondents

think to educate their child up to graduate level and 6% of the respondents think to educate their

child up to post graduate level.

Illiterate6%

Secondary52%

Higher secondary

24%

Graduate12%

Post graduate6%

T

V

C

As the ab

their edu

permissio

Table No. 3.3

Valid Ye

No

Tot

Chart No. 33

bove chart a

ucated girl c

on to their ed

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

33 Educated

s

o

tal

3

and table ind

child to do a

ducated girl

Yes

30%

Educa

d girls - per

Fre

dicates that

a job and re

child to do a

ated girls ‐

rmission to d

equency

1

3

5

30% of the

est of 70% o

a job.

No

70%

‐ permissio

do job

P

15

35

50

respondents

of the respo

on to do jo

ercent

30.

70.

100.

s think to gi

ondents think

ob

Educated girpermission tjob?

0

0

0

ive permissi

k to not giv

rls ‐to do 

103

on to

ve the

104

MAJOR FINDINGS

105

Major Findings The study was conducted on dropout among middle class Muslim families. For this study

researcher collected the data from Kothawa Dargah village, in this village dropout ratio is high

which exposed through this study so following are the major findings.

Economic Status:

• It has been found that 70% of the respondents’ has their own business, and these

businesses are small level of business which can be said that self employed. A area of

study famous for the Sufi Dargah and near this Dargah there are many villagers

established flower shop though this shops from the total respondents 42% of the

respondents have been earning ` 8,000 to ` 11,000/- monthly income.

• After dropping the education 42% of children are not contributing any way in the family

income, they remain at home only.

Educational Status:

• From the total respondents 88% of the respondents (children’s father) attended school but

from these 88% respondents 70% of the respondents having only primary level of

education, this can be one reason for the low level of the education of children and high

rate of dropouts.

• It is found that 68% of the respondents’ children are not getting education and

simultaneously it is also observed that these are the children whose parents also have very

low level of education and 78% of respondents’ 2 to 3 or more children have dropped the

education and one thing also observed that after getting failed in the exam students didn’t

try to get back in the school and whoever tried but he/she, specially male children have

not try to do hard work to pass the exam, and in this matter this reason works with mostly

boys not with girls because girls do not fail normally.

• This study says that 60% of the respondents are male who dropped the education and

40% of the respondents are female who dropped the education and the whole Gujarat

dropout rate is for the boys 56.24% and for the girls 62.25% and this dropout rate reduced

from previous years because of Gujarat Government’s schemes as declared in the Times

of India news paper dated 20th April, 2011. In these families 72% of the respondents

106

having one or two male children who have dropped education and 54% of the

respondents’ family having only one female child who has dropped education.

• This study’s one variable is that respondents should not below the standard 7th and not up

to 10th standard, and in the 21st April, 2011’s Times of India published the data of dropout

rate which also told that the dropout rate is very high between 7th standard and 10th

standard, and this study also describe that 48% of the respondents’ children dropped after

10th standard. This is also found that 76% students of the respondents dropped the

education while their past scholastic performance was from 50% to 59%.

Reasons for dropping the education:

• This study tells that one of the main reasons behind the high rate of dropout is being

failure, 34% of the respondents dropped the education specially after 10th due to failure,

the dropout rate very high, in the boys as they prefer sports more than study, and there is

no study atmosphere. This finding is in similarity with the Indian Government’s survey

that dropout rate between class IX and X is higher.

• As normally people thought that low education status or low literacy rate is happen

generally because of financial problem, but as the 25th February in the Times of India said

that Muslims doing exceedingly well in The Gujarat, this report matches with the study’s

finding which is 84% of the respondents have not any economical reasons for dropping

the school

• In this study, this finding is also tells that 96% of the respondents have not any school

related reason for dropping the school.

• For the reasons of dropping the education in that 60% of the respondents have not any

social reasons for dropping the education and 22% of the respondents dropped the

education because of family members objected and these are mostly Girl Childs, girls

dropout rate high because of this reason here Muslims culture or orthodox mentality

came out.

• Through this study it comes out that Muslims count, education does not lead to less

religiousness so 96% of the respondents have not any religious reasons for dropping the

school.

107

After Dropping the School:

• After dropping the school 52% of the respondents’ children are at home and they are not

doing anything not any type training or not contributing in the family income in this case

there boys also but girls are more than boys because they are not permitted to do a job or

to get more education while 40% of the respondents’ children are helping in their family

income through doing a job or help in the family business.

Perception of respondents about education:

• 56% of the respondents are still like to go to school but from them majority, 84% of the

respondents have not done any effort in getting back to the school, education is very

important for life which shows that 80% of the respondents thought that there are

advantages of education.

• Having low level of education among this community then also 92% of the respondents

thought higher education gives a better position in the society, and there is a quote which

is very shock able that through getting higher education people got negative effect on

their mind then also 66% of the respondents perceive that there is not any side effect of

the higher education on the child’s mind.

• It is saying and some studies proved that Muslims are narrow minded or very orthodox

about school education then also 88% of the respondents don’t think that through getting

higher education less religiousness is happened.

• This is one of very genuine finding that 100% of the respondents think that education

brings change in the life; education helps in every step in the life which shows through

this finding that 62% of the respondents think that education helps in the social &

economical life.

• 14% of the respondents have not used the vocation after getting the vocation education

therefore it has not been useful for anything to them, and through this study researcher

comes to know that father’s education level concern with the selection of type of

education in which 74% of the respondents’ preferred vocational education while 26% of

the respondents preferred degree level education.

108

• Now-a-days Muslims mind have also getting broadening which shows that 94% of the

respondents think that they should educate to their girl child but 52% of the respondents

think to educate to their girl child up to secondary level, and here Muslims’ mind-set

come in to the reality and Muslim culture relate with that 70% of the respondents think to

not give the permission to their educated girl child to do a job.

109

CONCLUSION

&

SUGGESTIONS

110

Conclusion & Suggestions Conclusion

Our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has given the statement about the development of the

country in that statement he told that if we want to make our country fully developed then we

have to bring those communities in the front with the running world who remain undeveloped

like minorities, SCs, STs, and other backward communities. Muslims are the second largest

community in India.

Muslims are also human resource for the development of the country if one or more than one

community remains undeveloped then nobody can developed or says that the country is

developed because for the country you need to develop the whole unit therefore Mr. Prime

Minister emphasis on the education of the minorities because through that only any community

can be developed.

Through this study researcher came to know that somehow the reason works behind low

education among Muslims is their own will to educate their child and child’s willing to get

education and for the girls dropout mainly family members against to educate girl child behind

this mentality the reason is they afraid of about the security of girl child and society spread

wrong talks for her. There are some families who make dropped their girl child because there

was not other girl who could give company to their young child.

Then also Government of Gujarat claims in the Times of India (25-2-2011) that Muslims’ rate of

literacy in Gujarat is 73.5% compared to the national average of 59.1 per cent. The article says

that “the Muslim community in Gujarat has kept with the progress in the state”.

Government need to co-ordinate policy at macro level and implement at micro level to increase

the rate of literacy among deprived minorities.

111

Suggestions

• Parents should take care for children’s school education that they are going to school or

not and they should motivate their children about getting higher education.

• Muslims should make their mind broad and they should send their girl child also up to at

least graduate or HSC level.

112

BIBLIOGRAPHY

113

Bibliography Books:

• Khan, Mumtaz Ali, 1984, “Muslims in the process of rural development in India (A

study of karnataka)”, Uppal Publishing house, New Delhi, 110002.

• Rana Tahseen, 1993, “Education and Modernization of Muslims in India”, Deep & deep

publications, New Delhi, 110027.

• Zafar Imam, 1975, “Muslims In India”, Orient Longman.

• Pandey, Prem narayan, 1988, “Education and social mobility”, Daya publishing house.

• Khalidi, Omar, “Indian Muslims since Independence”, Vikas Publishing house Pvt. Ltd.

• Rehman, M.M., 1992, “Society economy & education of the deprived”, Anupama

Publications, Delhi.

• Ahemad, Aijszuddin, 1993, “Muslims in India- Their educational demographic & socio-

economic status”, inter – India, New delhi.

Download from Websites:

• http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/98106-Problems-Education-among-

Muslims-India.aspx

• http://www.okhlatimes.com/news

• http://www.islamicvoice.com/February2007/SpecialReport/

• http://www.islamfortoday.com

• http://esaconf.un.org/wb

• http://www.biharanjuman.org/coaching_to_minimize_drop-outs.html

• Muslim literacy rate of Surat - Google Search

• District-specific Literates and Literacy Rates, 2001- Google Search

• Human development index of Gujarat - Google Search

• Educational Deprivation of Muslims Revisiting Sachar Report (INDIA) - Google Search.

114

APPENDIX

115

Appendix

Topic: Causative factors for dropout among middle class Muslim families: A case

from Kothawa

Sr. No.: Date: - - 2011

I am pleased to share with you that the purpose of this communication is to place a

special word of request to share your valuable time to fill up given below questions.

Please note that the information provided by you would be kept strictly confidential and

would not be analyzed on an individual basis.

Your kind cooperation and valuable support in our academic endeavor shall be highly

appreciated. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

1). Personal Information: Name :

Age:

Gender :

Phone No.:

2). Native place:

3). From how many years you stay at here?

4). Type of house:

1. kachha

2. pakka

3. Semi-pakka

5). Type of family:

1. Nuclear

2. Joint

116

Sr. No.

Name & relation with respondent

Age Education Occupation Income

1

2

3

4

5

6). Occupation:

7). Monthly Income:

8). Have you attended school?

1. Yes

2. No

9). Education Level:

1. Illiterate 5. Technical

2. Primary 6. Graduate

3. Secondary 7. Post- Graduate

4. Higher Secondary 8. Professional

10). How many children are getting education in your family?

1, 2, 3, 4, ( )

117

11). Details of children who dropped education:

Sr. No.

Gender Age How many years before you dropped education?

After which standard you dropped?

How many percentages were you getting in the study?

1

2

3

4

5

12). Reasons for leaving school:

(1). Personal reasons: 1) Because child doesn’t like to learn. ( )

2) Because child was failed ( )

3) Due to low I.Q. level ( )

4) Because there wasn’t facility for further study ( )

(2). Economic Reasons: 1) Due to high education fees ( )

2) Due to high tuition fees. ( )

3) Due to high expenses of transportation ( )

4) Due to high fees & expenses of hostel ( )

5) Due to low family income ( )

(3). School Related Reasons : 1) Because of migration, it was difficult to get admission in the school so child left the

study. ( )

2) They don’t teach well in the school. ( )

118

3) It was difficult to get admission in the school because I didn’t have L. C.

( )

4) Education of school is not useful to get a job or stand on their own feet.

( )

(4). Social Reasons:

1) Sever sickness in the family ( )

2) The responsibility of bringing up siblings ( )

3) Because the child was needed in agriculture- family business ( )

4) Family members were against of education ( )

5) Early marriages of girl child ( )

6) The education of girl child will be benefited for the others ( )

7) An education does not provide a business or a service ( )

8) A child has friends who didn’t go to school ( )

(5) Religious Reasons: 1) Having education decreases religiousness ( )

2) Because there wasn’t facility for further study in Madresa ( )

3) Because there was not a Muslim school near to our house ( )

4) Because of co-education of boys and girls in the school ( )

Perceptions

1) What does your child do after leaving school

-At home ( )

-Job ( )

- Business ( )

2). Do you like to go at school (Y/N) ( )

3. If yes, which effort? ___________________________

4. Is any advantage of education? (Y/N) ( )

5. Do you think that higher education gives person a better position in the society?

(Y/N) ( )

6. Do you think that higher education affects on child’s mind?

119

(Y/N) ( )

7. If yes, which type of affects?

_______________________________

8. Do you think that due to high education children do not remain religious?

(Y/N) ( )

9. Does education make any change in life? (Y/N) ( )

10. If yes, in which matter?

____________________________

11. (23) Have you provided vocational education to your child?

(Y/N) ( )

11. 1. If no, do you like to provide it?

(Y/N) ( )

11.2. If yes, has it been useful for anything?

(Y/N) ( )

11.2.1. If no, why it has not been useful for anything?

____________________________________________

12. In which type of education you are interested?

-Vocational Education ( )

-Degree level education ( )

13. Do you thing that education should be provided to girls?

(Y/N) ( )

14. If yes, how much education she should have?

1. Primary ( ) 4. Technical ( )

2. Secondary ( ) 5. Graduate ( )

3. Higher Secondary ( ) 6. Post- Graduate ( )

15. Should educated girls have permission to do job?

(Y/N) ( )

THANKS…………….