By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow,

New Delhi, 07 June 2014: Either due to growing educational awareness or mega minority scholarship schemes of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the enrolment of Muslims at Primary Level has risen in last three years (2010-2013) in the country.

As per the data provided by District Information System for Education (DISE), Muslim enrolment at primary level has witnessed a slow but steady rise in last three years. As per Census India 2011, Muslims are 13.43% of the national population. In 2010-11, Muslim enrolment at primary level was 13.04% which rose to 13.31% in 2011-12 but the next academic year i.e. 2012-13 saw a big rise as the Muslim enrolment grew to 14.20%.

The percentage of Muslim girls’ enrolment at primary level has also gone up in the corresponding period across the country, says the DISE data.

At national level, of the total Muslim enrolment at primary level in 2010-11, Muslim girls’ share was 49.06%. It grew to 49.17% in 2011-12 and registered slighter increase next year with 49.22%.

Percentage of Muslim Enrolment at Primary Level in India (2010-2013)

There are some states in the country which have registered more enrolment of Muslims at primary level than the percentage of their population in the states.

Assam, as per Census India 2011, has 30.92% Muslims but the enrolment of the community at primary level in 2010-11 was 40.29%. It was 40.21% in 20111-12 and 40% in 2012-13. Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and some other states have also registered more Muslim enrolment than their population share.

But some states that include the most populous Uttar Pradesh have seen less Muslim enrolment than their population share in the states.

Uttar Pradesh has 18.50% Muslims as per Census India 2011. Its Muslim enrolment was just 10.43% in 2010-11 and 10.18% in 2011-12 but it made a big jump upward in 2012-13 when it grew to 14.14%. Bihar and Meghalaya are also among such states.

There are several states in the country which have seen around 50% Muslim girls’ enrolment. They include Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh. Out of the total Muslim enrolment in Andhra Pradesh in 2010-11, Muslim girls constituted 49.86%. It grew to 50.23% in 2011-12 and went down a bit at 50.03%. Assam had 50.11% girls’ enrolment in 2010-11 and 50.17% in 2011-12 but it went down a bit to 49.97% next year. Manipur stood out in that it recorded over 50% Muslim girls’ enrolment in all these three years.

Enrolment of Muslim Girls at Primary Level