Lok Sabha Question No. 2661 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-17
Subject: Muslim Girls in Schools
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Mala Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2661

ANSWERED ON - 17.03.2022

## MUSLIM GIRLS IN SCHOOLS

## 2661.   SHRIMATI MALA ROY:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the percentage of Muslim girls who are out of school;
- (b) the variation in the above said number between 2014 to 2022 and the reasons therefore; and
- (c) the steps/being taken by the Government to bring them back to school?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a) to (c):  As per UDISE+, the enrolment of minority students in schools  has increased from 411  lakhs  in  2015-16  to  455  lakhs  in  2020-21.  Also,  for  Higher  education,  as  per  AISHE reports, the enrolment of minority students has increased from 22.97 lakh in 2015-16 to 29.88 lakh in 2019-20

In  addition,    the  dropout  rate  of  minority  students  has  decreased  for  classes  1  to  6, from  8.59% in 2015-16 to  0.8%  in  2020-21  at  primary  level.  Similarly,  for  classes  6  to  9, dropout rate has decreased from 10.53% in 2015-16 to 2.69% in 2020-21. Also, for classes 9 to 11 dropout rate has decreased from 20.71% in 2015-16 to 15.98% in 2020-21.

The dropout rate for minority girls for classes 1  to 6 has  decreased from   8.03% in 2015-16  to  0.4%  in  2020-21  and  from  10.28%  to  2.31%  for  classes  6  to  9.  Similarly,  for classes 9 to 11, the dropout rate for minority girls has decreased from 20.51% in 2015-16 to 15.9% in 2020-21.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs for educational empowerment of minority students including minority girls has w.e.f. 2014-15 sanctioned approx 5.01 crore  scholarships with expenditure of Rs. 14643.59 crores. This includes 2.60 crore  girl beneficiaries which is above 50% of total scholarships disbursed.

The Ministry of Education, Department of School Education and Literacy with effect from 2018-19 has launched an Integrated Centrally Sponsored Scheme for School EducationSamagra Shiksha . The scheme has now been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to  ensure  that  all  children  have  access  to  quality  education  with  an  equitable  and  inclusive classroom  environment  which  should  take  care  of  their  diverse  background,  multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities to reduce number of Out of School Children (OoSC) including opening/strengthening  of  new  schools  upto  senior  secondary  level,  construction  of  school buildings & additional classrooms, setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi

Balika  Vidyalayas,  setting  up  of  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya  Vidyalayas,  free uniforms, free text books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. Further,  special  training  for  age  appropriate  admission  of  out  of  school  children  and residential as well as non-residential training for older children, seasonal hostels / residential camps,  special  training  centres  at  worksites,  transport/  escort  facility  are  also  supported  to bring  out  of  school  children  to  the  formal  schooling  system.  Further,  under  the  student oriented component for the children with  special  needs, financial assistance  is  provided  for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc.

Further, for the first time in 2021-22, financial assistance uptoRs. 2000 per annum has been envisioned for supporting Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 years, belonging to socio economically disadvantaged groups, for completing their education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification.

Under 'Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman' (PM POSHAN) one hot cooked meal in Government and Government aided schools is provided to students at the elementary level of education.

Also, Section 10 of the RTE Act states that it shall be the duty of every parent or guardian to admit or cause to be admitted his or her child or ward, as the case may be, for elementary education in the neighborhood school.

D/o School Education & Literacy also implements National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme under which scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections  to  arrest  their  drop  out  at  class  VIII  and  encourage  them  to  continue  the  study  at secondary stage.

The  details of schemes being  implemented  by the Ministry of Minority Affairs for the educational empowerment of students/beneficiariesincluding girls belonging to six notified minority communities i.e. Christian, Sikh, Muslim,Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian (Parsi) are given below:

(i) Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme -The scholarship is provided to minority students studying in class I to X in Government/ recognized Private schools. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian's income more than Rs.1.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for girls.

(ii) Post-matric Scholarship Scheme -The scholarship is provided to minority students studying in Class XI to Ph.D level in Government/ recognized Private schools/Colleges/Institutes. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian's income more than Rs.2.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for girls.

(iii) Merit-cum-Mean based Scholarship Scheme -The scholarship is awarded for pursuing professional and technical courses at under-graduate and post-graduate levels, in institutions recognized by the appropriate authority. 85 institutes for professional and technical courses have been listed in the scheme; for which full course fee is reimbursed. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian's income more than Rs.2.50 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for girls.

- (iv) Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) SchemeThe Fellowships are awarded to research students pursuing regular and full time M.Phil and Ph.D courses. The Scheme covers all Universities/Institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under section 2(f) and section 3 of the UGC Act and is implemented through UGC. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian's income more than Rs.6.00 lakh.  Under the scheme, 30% fellowships are earmarked for girl students. Since 2014-15, in addition to renewals, 5882 fresh fellowships have been awarded involving an expenditure of Rs. 571.78 crore.
- (v) Padho Pardesh -Scheme of Interest Subsidy on educational loans for overseas studiesUnder the scheme, the interest subsidy is awarded to students on the interest payable for the period of moratorium for the Education Loans taken for overseas studies to pursue approved courses of studies abroad at Masters, M.Phil or Ph.D levels. The scheme is implemented through the Canara Bank. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian's income more than Rs.6.00 lakh. 35% scholarships are earmarked  for  girls.  An  amount  of  Rs.  108.27  has  been  released  for  payment  of  interest subsidy to 15743 beneficiaries since 2014-15.
- (vi) Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship -Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) under M/o Minority Affairs also implements Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship scheme for exclusively for meritorious minority girls studying in classes IX  to XII having family annual income less than Rs. 2.00 lakh.  Since 2014-15, have been sanctioned to 9.86 lakh minority girls for which Rs. 630.46 crore has been sanctioned.
- (vii) Nai  Manzil -  A  scheme  for  formal  school  education  &  skilling  of  school  dropouts. 98,311 beneficiaries have benefitted under this scheme for which an amount of 399.71 crore has been released with effect from 2016-17.
- (viii) Educational Loan Scheme of National Minorities Development Finance Corporation  (NMDFC): NMDFC  a  PSU  under  the  Ministry  implements  Educational Loan  Scheme  with  the  objective  to  facilitate job oriented education  for the eligible persons belonging to minorities. Loan is available for 'technical and professional courses' for which loan up to Rs. 20.00 lakh for domestic courses and uptoRs. 30.00 lakh for courses abroad is provided. During 2014-15 to 2020-21, loan to the tune of Rs. 252.45 Crore has been sanctioned to 19, 245 minority students.
- (ix) Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) - PMJVK is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), with the objective of improving socio-economic condition and basic amenities in identified Minority Concentrated Areas (MCAs) mainly through infrastructure support.

Under  PMJVK,  the  educational  projects  approved  since  2014-15  to  2021-22  include1550 School Buildings, 171 Residential Schools, 6 NVS schools, 38 Degree Colleges, 01 Medical College, 01 Unani Medical College,  01 Agriculture College, 679 Hostels, 23094 Additional Class  Rooms,  239  Science  Labs/  Libraries  and  Laboratories.  In  addition  to  the  above, Playgrounds,  Smart Class Rooms/Teaching Aids, Furniture, Toilets, drinking water facilities, etc. have also been approved.

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