Women’s Education in Minority Areas

In order to enhance participation of minority women in the national education system, various initiatives have been taken and 88 districts with concentration of minority population are specifically targeted for maximising school access and eliminating infrastructure gaps through opening of 16,391 new Primary Schools and 9,345 Upper Primary Schools; construction of 1,70,925 additional classrooms and sanctioning of 1,34,203 teachers. Under the scheme of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), which inter-alia provides coverage of special focus groups viz. girls’, children belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and educationally backward Minorities, 9636 secondary schools have been approved, out of which 906 have been approved in Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs); Out of 3609 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) sanctioned, 490 KGBVs have been sanctioned in blocks having over 20% Muslim population, of which 475 are operational. Besides, a Sub-Committee on Girls’ Education of the National Monitoring Committee for Minorities’ Education has also been constituted to identify the factors impeding Girl Education in Minority communities and suggest measures to counter them, ways and means to enhance quality teachers for girls in Minority Concentrated Areas and to develop infrastructure for enhancing participation of girls belonging to Minority Communities in educational institutions.