PM laments poor participation of Muslims in education

Lamenting the poor participation of Muslims in the field of education and training, prime minister Manmohan Singh today said his government is committed to take "sincere" steps to improve the scenario.

"Muslims have not participated in education and training in the country to the extent they should have been involved," Singh told a press conference.

He said a committee under justice Rajindar Sachar has stressed on education and training of Muslims. The prime minister's 15-point programmes has been launched which stresses, among other things, on improving the education standards of the Muslims, Singh said.

"Lot more has to be done. We will proceed with full sincerity and honesty in this direction," he said. 

As per the findings of the Sachar Committee, 25% of Muslim children in the 6-14 age-group either never went to school or else dropped out at some stage.

Besides, the gap in graduate attainment rate between  Muslims and other categories has been widening since the 1970s. Only one out of 25 undergraduate students and one out of 50 post-graduate students in premier colleges are Muslims,
the Sachar committee has said.