EDUCATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN INDIA .“Education is a great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of a farm worker can become the President of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another”. Nelson Mandela.
EDUCATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN INDIA. Education is an important thing for empowering women. According to the census 2011, the literacy rate of Muslim women is 51.9% of all religious communities. Muslim women lag behind their male counterparts and all other communities. Muslims have the highest dropout rate in the country. Only one out of the 25 undergraduate students and one out of the 50 postgraduate students is Muslim in the college. Education is one of the important social indicators having bearing on the achievement and the growth of an individual as well as the community.
Importance of Education of Indian Muslim Women
- Education helps to raise the status of women in the patriarchal society.
- It helps to increase the self-confidence and self-esteem of women
- It will bring awareness among women, about their rights and equality in the Muslim community.
- Education will increase their financial independence.
- It will change the stereotypical mindset of Muslim individuals in society
- It will develop leadership qualities among women
- It will also empower them to live healthy and happy life.
Causes responsible for Educational Backwardness of Muslim Women
- The poor economic condition of the family and early marriages.
- Parents are illiterate and do not see the value of educating girls who would get married and remain a housewife
- In rural areas females are engaged in domestic work and are not allowed to leave their home place.
- The financial burden is one of the main factors that affect female education. It is because most of the parents have a poor financial background and are engaged in primary activities.
- Failure of government interventions for the enhancement of education
- Social factors like an early marriage of girls are one of the main reasons of drop out of Muslim girls
- Negative attitude toward women’s education among Muslims
Initiatives are taken by the government
- The Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi 1983 issued a 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities. It states that the state authorities should take steps for starting coaching classes and resource centres in minority educational institutions to train minority students
- The programme of Action 1986 set the following four targets for the various minorities like setting up of resource centres in educational institutes like Aligarh Muslim universities and Jamia Millia Islamia.
- The National Policy on Education, 1986 and its programme of Action first took note of the existing programmes for the Muslim Minorities to promote the education of minorities and led to the formulation of major programmes like the Area Intensive Educational Development and Modernisation of Madrasas, Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students.
- Other schemes
- Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
- Balika Saridhhi Yojana
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Solutions
- The first step is to remove a stereotypical mindset and ill traditions that exist in the community toward women’s education.
- Making them more confident is another way to empower them
- Creating awareness among Muslims about the importance of education.
- Government interventions are also necessary for providing Muslim women with free and compulsory education for their upliftment.
- Provisions should be made by the government for the preservation of employment for educated women.
- Vocational and professional training should be provided to women.
- Sufficient job opportunities should be provided to women.
Conclusion
Muslim girls are still lagging in achieving an education. There are various reasons for women’s education such as customs, poverty, gender-based discrimination and other social factors. Therefore government should provide facilities for Muslim women to receive an education so that they can contribute to the development of society.
Read More: Save Muslim Women’s Rights, India to implement UCC
edited by:- Yasha malik
