HRD ministry to create national database for minorities education

The database will track enrolment trends and help map the presence of educational infrastructure in districts/blocks dominated by minorities and assess their adequacy with respect to the educational needs of the area. The ministry has already roped in the National Informatics Centre NIC to develop a software for the database.

The Sachar Committee Report says one-fourth of the Muslim children in the age group of 6-14 have either never attended school or are dropouts. For children above 17 years,the educational attainment of Muslims at matriculation is 17 per cent,as against the national average of 26 per cent. Only 50 per cent of Muslims who complete middle school are likely to complete secondary education,compared to 62 per cent at national level.

A senior official of the ministry said the idea is to examine why minority enrolment,interest or performance are low in certain areas and whether or not the demand-supply ratio is being addressed.