Muslim students have stopped enrolling in schools during the year 2020-2021 by more than 8 per cent and Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest decline by 36 per cent.
The recently released All India Survey on Higher Education 2020–21 shows some contrasting trends, reported Indian Express.
On the one hand, enrollment of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs in higher education has increased by 4.2 per cent, 11.9 per cent and 4 per cent respectively compared to 2019-20.
The upper castes of India, whose share in enrollment had been declining with the implementation of Mandal II since the late 2000s have come back with the highest growth rate of 13.6 per cent.
On the other hand, the enrollment of Muslim students dropped by 8 per cent from 2019-20 – that is, by 1,79,147 students. This level of absolute decline has never happened in the recent past for any group.
UP accounts for 36 per cent of that total decline followed by Jammu Kashmir, which accounts for 26 per cent, then Maharashtra (8.5 per cent), Tamil Nadu (8.1 per cent), Gujarat (6.1 per cent), Bihar (5.7 per cent) and Karnataka (3.7 per cent).
The report added that except in Tamil Nadu, Muslims alone witnessed an absolute decline in their enrollment.
While the states that have a larger share of the Muslim population account for the higher share of decline, small states too show similar trends.
For instance, between 2019-20 — 2020-21, Delhi lost about 20 per cent of its Muslim students while J&K lost about 36 per cent.
If OBCs constitute about 36 per cent of total enrollment in higher education, Dalits 14.2 per cent and Adivasis 5.8 per cent, Muslims stand at the bottom at 4.6 per cent when they represent about 15 per cent of society.
The Sachar Committee Report (SCR) submitted in 2006 showed that the condition of Muslims in education was comparable to, or even worse than, the country’s most backward communities. Their marginalisation, since then, has deepened. Initially, Muslims were slightly above Dalits. But Dalits overtook Muslims in education in 2017-18 and in 2020-21, it was the turn of the Adivasis.