EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION OF MUSLIM CHILDREN: EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES AND INCLUSIVE STRATEGIES Dr. Sajid Jamal Associate Professor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, College of Teacher Education, Bhopal Dr. Abdul Raheem Associate Professor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, College of Teacher Education, Srinagar And

INTRODUCTION In most of the developed countries, education is free and compulsory up to the elementary stage This importance of education is given due weightage in the constitution of India and it laid down under the Directive Principles of State Policy, that “the state shall endeavour to provide within a period of 10 years from the commencement of this Constitution for the free and compulsory education of all children until they complete the age of 14 years.”

INTRODUCTION The Muslims along with the other weaker sections of the society have been benefited with the programmes and India is now in the position of 100% enrolments at elementary level but there exists wide disparities among the socio-religious communities of India, Muslim children being at the lowest in hierarchy of almost all indicators related to UEE. And, (that is why) the RTE Act–2009 come into existence which guarantees free and compulsory elementary education of the children of age group 6-14 in neighbourhood schools.

INTRODUCTION Access and equity in enrolment, ensuring the retention, minimum level of learning and quality are the demand of the RTE Act–2009. Now, in this context, it becomes necessary to look into the matter of educational exclusion of Muslim children so that proper strategies may be chalked out to include them in the mainstream and to let them benefit from RTE Act-2009 because these are the darken side of the same enlightened coin of UEE in India.

Certain ground realities about the participation of Muslim minority children in (elementary) education: Sachar Committee Report reveals that literacy levels amongst SCs/STs have increased at a faster rate than for other SRCs (Socio-Religious communities) leaving behind Muslims Mean Years of Schooling (MYS) average is 4 years. The MYS of Muslims is the lowest (about 3 years 4 months).

Certain ground realities about the participation of Muslim minority children in (elementary) education: Despite the positive recommendations of different Committees, in many states, there is a dearth of facilities for teaching Urdu. The number of Urdu medium schools is very less in most States As many as 25 per cent of Muslim children in the 6-14 year age group have either never attended school or have dropped out. This is higher than that of any other SRCs

Certain ground realities about the participation of Muslim minority children in (elementary) education: Draft report on Magnitude of child labour in India by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights reveal that in 5-14 years of age group the maximum participation in child work force is from the Muslim community Though the all-India literacy level of Muslims are somewhat satisfactory, stratified analysis of state data, by internal stratification, place of residence and by gender, presents a less flattering picture of the status of Muslims (Sachar Committee Report)

Identifying Causes of Educational Exclusion of Muslim minority children: Social causes: Lack of awareness, motivation and social hindrance like caste system, purdah system, etc. Economical causes: As it has double effect, unable to pay educational expenses, child labour resulting in immediate return Lack of motivation and scholarship for the Muslim children at all the levels of education Poor health and sanitation condition, under nourished children, etc., causes absenteeism and dropouts

Identifying Causes of Educational Exclusion of Muslim minority children: Educational causes Illiteracy of Muslim parents as well as being the first generation learners Living in remote areas, no nearby schools, etc. causes non- enrolment, non-attendance and finally dropout. Lack of access to government and good public/private schools for Muslim children, insufficient number of (quality) schools providing the elementary education through Urdu as medium of instruction also contribute towards non-enrollment and dropouts.

Identifying Causes of Educational Exclusion of Muslim minority children: Educational causes Sometimes the non-availability of teachers from their community develops the feeling of insecurity of their traditions and cultures Non availability of good books develop negative interest in teaching learning and consequently contribute to the absenteeism from the school.

Identifying Causes of Educational Exclusion of Muslim minority children: Political causes: The policies framed by the government in real spirit sometimes do not reach adequately to the targeted sections because of loopholes in the channel system

Consequences of Educational Exclusion of Muslim Minority Children: The deprivation of elementary education (either dropped out or low quality) leads to further deprivation of secondary, senior secondary and higher education and ultimately of employment and livelihood. These consequences not only have the impact on the particular excluded group for a year or more, it encompasses generations to generations..

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Social inclusion of Muslim children First of all, it is required that the Muslims must the change their attitude about themselves and make serious efforts to be educated.This will help in real access to the important resources of school and society, i.e., teachers and well off personalities. This requires mass and targeted campaigns by the government as well as NGOs under RTE Act, 2009.

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Economic inclusion of Muslim children: Reservation for Muslims in education at all levels and employment taking into consideration of all the internal stratification of Muslim community. Scholarship for the needy Muslim children at all the levels of education, i.e., elementary, secondary, senior secondary and higher education. Special health awareness and camp programme along with ensuring the availability of mobile hospitals to such schools or locality where ill health cases may arise.

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Educational inclusion of Muslim children Targeting the Muslim population in Adult/Continuing education programmes and literacy awareness march under RTE Act provision. There should be sufficient number of schools (colleges) providing the elementary (secondary, higher secondary and the higher) education through the Urdu as medium of instruction. The RTE Act should take into consideration of these peripheries for the inclusion of Muslim children at the elementary level. When a Muslim child has been enrolled in particular class, as per the RTE Act provisions, the school should be given responsibility for the retention till he/she completes the elementary education.

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Educational inclusion of Muslim children There should be sufficient number of Government and public/private schools with good infrastructural facilities and learning environment to ensure quality education and the participation of the targeted Muslim population should be ensured under RTE Act. Higher drop-out rate among Muslim girls is due to the non-availability of schools within easy reach for girls at lower levels of education, absence of girl’s hostels, absence of female teachers and availability of scholarships as they move up the education ladder have also been pointed out by Sachar Committee. A special targeting programme and policies needs to be framed to ensure the retention and completion of elementary education of the girl children under RTE Act.

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Educational inclusion of Muslim children Madarsas should also be entrusted and given responsibility for elementary education of the children of Muslim minority by giving proper financial aids and facilities under RTE Act.

Strategies for Educational Inclusion of Muslim Minority Children: Political inclusion of Muslim children It must be insured that the Muslim Minority (children) including all within stratifications are getting the benefits of the various planning and governmental schemes. Government provisions as per the recommendations made NPE-1986 for the betterment of SC and ST may prove to be fruitful for the Muslim minority children also. Under RTE Act, the government should make priorities along these lines to (qualitative) include educationally the children of the largest minority of India at elementary level.

Conclusion: Educational inclusion of the Muslim minority children requires a long-term strategic planning. RTE Act, while tackling educational exclusion of Muslim minority children requires a multi-faceted approach to action on a number of fronts. If only one aspect is considered and taken care off (e.g. education), the success will be unlikely because other aspects of exclusion will prevent effective progress. Whatever the laws, policies and programmes made, it is the duty of the government to enforce them tactfully.

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