More girls in school

The school dropout rate among Muslim girls has reduced by half, says Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Let's start the New Year on a happy note education-wise and women-wise.The school dropout rate among Muslim girls, which was more than 70 per cent, has  been reduced to about 35 per cent thanks to the educational programmes of the Maharashtra Government which aspires to bring it down to zero percent in the future,  said Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

He revealed the good news while laying the foundation stone of a school building, library, laboratory and other  facilities at the Dr. MIJ Girls High School and Junior College  run by Anjuman-e-Islam at Bandra, Mumbai, in the presence of Maulana Azad Education Foundation's chair Jahir Kazi and vice chair Ashfaq Saifi and Minority Affairs Ministry, Govt of India, Secretary  R Rehman.

Mr Naqvi said that during the last four years, scholarships have been provided to more than three crore and 11 lakh students belonging to minority communities of which about 60 per cent are girl students.

The National Scholarship Portal Mobile App (NSP Mobile App) was also launched last year to ensure a smooth, accessible and hassle-free scholarship system for students from poor and weaker sections.

 “Educational empowerment is an effective step to stop the political exploitation of minorities," Mr Naqvi said, adding that scholarship funds have been deposited into bank accounts of the students, free from middlemen... In the last two years, thousands of educational institutions run by minority communities including madrasas, have been included in the mainstream education system by connecting them with "3T-Teacher, Tiffin, Toilet".

He said the Union Government has expanded development programmes for minorities in 308 districts of the country from 100 districts earlier. A campaign has been started to provide basic amenities,educational institutions and skill development centres to empower girls from minority communities in the "backward and ignored"areas of these districts  under the ‘Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karyakram’ (PMJVK), he  said.