Muslims end up doing diploma at UG level: Study

A higher percentage of Muslim students prefer to join post-secondary education for a “short period” and end up doing diploma and certificate courses below graduate level, according to a study conducted by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA).

Muslims belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes participation is higher in post-secondary diploma and certificate courses. The students do take up higher education courses but their attendance “considerably” falls when they reach post graduate level, the study said.

The result of the survey shows that the Gross Attendance Ratio (GAR) of Muslims stands at 8.7 per cent as opposed to 16.8 per cent GAR of the non-Muslims in higher education. “If we compare the GAR of Muslims with other social groups, we observe that it is higher than the GAR of Scheduled Tribes at 6.63 per cent and lower than the GAR of SCs at 10.65 per cent  and much lower than the GAR of OBCs at 13.67 per cent,” the study said.

The report indicated “wide variation” in the participation within various Hindu communities in higher education while it was moderate in the case of Muslim students. “There is a wide variation in the participation within Hindu community as we move from STs, SCs, OBCs and others. It varies from 6.26 per cent in the case of STs to 10.52 per cent in the case of SCs, 14.27 per cent in the case of OBCs to 29.56 per cent in the case of others,” the study said.

However, there was no wide variation in the participation within Muslims. The GAR of STs (in Muslims) is 5.6 per cent, SCs 14.2 per cent, OBCs 8.7 per cent and that of others is 8.6 per cent, it added. The survey also found that whereas, the top quartile of the Muslims did show highest participation in the higher education in relation to all the bottom four quartiles, the differentiation in participation even within top quartile between communities was very high.