الهند: المنح الدراسية تدعم مستقبل الطلاب المسلمين

خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

أكدت دراسة صدرت حديثًا أنه خلال السنوات الخمس الماضية حصل نحو 3 ملايين طالب مسلم في "الهند" على قدر من الإعانات المالية والمنح الحكومية المتفاوتة لدعم التعليم؛ مما يساعد المسلمين على الحصول على أوضاع اجتماعية أفضل، طبقًا لتوصيات الدراسة التي طالبت الحكومة بمزيد من الاهتمام بالأقلية المسلمة التي تبلغ 140 مليون نسمة.

وتأتي هذه الدراسة لتبين أوضاع المسلمين التعليمية، والتي كشفت النقاب عنها "لجنة ساشر" عام 2006؛ حيث أكدت أن 4% من المسلمين ملتحقون بالتعليم الجامعي، وأن 4% يحضرون المدارس الدينية مع ارتفاع معدل عدم الالتحاق بالدراسة والتسرب من التعليم؛ وذلك لسوء الأوضاع الاجتماعية والمالية والتي تحتاج لدعم حكومي، وأنه بالرغم من أن المسلمين يشكلون 13% من السكان، فإن 5% فقط هم من يعملون في وظائف تكفلها الحكومة؛ المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

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الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Enhanced scholarships brighten prospects of Indian Muslims

In the last five years, some three million Muslim students have received financial aid. A recent study found that help with education is what Muslims want most from their government.

Mohammed Latif of Jaipur is a janitor whose salary barely covers his family expenses. But the national scholarship programme for minorities has saved him from a terrible choice.

"Without the scholarships, I would have had to choose between keeping either my son or daughter in school." Latif told Khabar South Asia. "Not both."

His 16-year-old son Mohammed Salman is a business student at Muslim Senior Secondary School. His 14-year-old daughter Asma Bano is a ninth-grader in Jaipur's Azad Public School. Both have received government education scholarships.

"I want to be a certified accountant," Salman told Khabar. "The scholarship money helps me buy good books and reading material. My father doesn't need to worry about my school fees."

The scholarship programme for minorities has been a runaway success, helping nearly three million Muslim students stay in schools and universities in the five years between 2007 and 2012, according to government data.

During those five years, the Ministry of Minority Affairs gave out a total of $14.2m such scholarships, 52% more than its official target of $9.3m.

A high-level panel constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006, known as the Sachar Committee, had found Muslims falling behind on key socioeconomic indicators.

According to the committee, Muslims made up only 4% of undergraduate students, and had low enrolment and high dropout rates, largely for financial reasons. In addition, just 4% of Indian Muslim children attended madrassas.

Muslims also held fewer than 5% of government jobs, although they made up 13% of all Indians. Their poverty rates were only slightly better than "low-caste" Hindus such as Dalits, while their literacy rates ranked well below the national average.