Urdu medium schools have fallen in disrepute in Karnataka merely because of the laxity among teachers. Visit any Urdu school in the state and the sight of the lady teachers with knitting sticks in hands and caterwauling students will not surprise you. Poor infrastructure, negligent administration, teachers committed merely to their fat government scale salaries and careless parents have together rendered the Urdu medium schools barren of excellence in Karnataka. But Maharashtra Muslim have surged ahead using the government-aided Urdu schools. Now they have established edge over Marathi and other medium schools sheer through hard work, infusing competitiveness and without succumbing to the snobbery of English education.
Quality emerges out of quantity.
The Maharashtra s Muslim school essentially prove this point. Competition, excellence and the desire to establish edge over others springs only when a vast body is seen engaged in pursuing common goals and limited opportunities. Over the years, Muslims in Maharashtra have learnt to widen their base of primary and secondary education through a vast network of Urdu medium schools. They have cared to erect the pyramid of education in proper proportions. In Karnataka, Muslims have regressed from 61 per cent literacy before 1947 to 47 per cent now.