Urdu medium schools aplenty, but of dismal standard

Over 1,243 Urdu medium schools have come up in Maharashtra in the past decade, the sharpest rise (25%) since Independence. The number of schools has gone up from 750 in 1951 to 4,900 in 2014, nearly a seven-fold increase in 65 years, according to a study undertaken by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar. Currently, Mumbai has the highest number of Urdu medium schools in the state, 400.

Why do Muslim students prefer Urdu schools?
Muslim parents prefer Urdu schools to maintain their cultural identity. Moreover, they find English medium schools unaffordable. 

Who compiled the report? 
Prof Abdul Shaban of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar. His report, 'Urdu medium schools in Maharashtra: Status and possibilities', will be submitted to the govt this month. 

Who commissioned it?
It was commissioned by the Minority Development Department and the Minority Commission of Maharashtra. 

What is it based on?
The report is based on data of District Information System for Education (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) of the school education department.

No. of students in Urdu medium schools
There are over 13 lakh children (class 1 to 12) currently in these schools, most of which don’t meet the basic norms as mandated under Right to Education Act, 2009. Many are jam-packed with up to 70 children per classroom.

Other schools in Maharashtra 
The state has close to 1.04 lakh schools; of this over 87,400 are Marathi medium; 10,000 are English medium and 1,700 Hindi medium. Maharashtra also has Gujarati (311), Kannada (344), Sindhi (28), Tamil (49), Telugu (83) and Bengali (56) medium schools.

Other findings of the study
* Students of Urdu medium schools get more isolated in society. (Firoz Ashraf, a senior journalist who also teaches several Muslim girls voluntarily, blamed the govt, school managements and poorly skilled and non-motivated teachers for the pathetic condition of these schools. “Even the media and NGOs neglect them,” said Ashraf. 
* Students are generally poor and dropout rate is very high; 80% of them come from poor background and lag behind in studies. (“Mathematical and language skills of these children are so poor that they hardly pass class 10. They can’t bag a good job and don’t emerge from the vicious cycle of poverty,” said Shabbir Ansari, president of a Muslim OBC organisation.
* There is rampant corruption in appointment of teachers. (“It's not talent but a bribe of around Rs10-12 lakh which helps candidates get the job. How can you expect quality education”, asks Shabbir Ansari.
A probable solution
* Prof Shaban says govt must take the initiative by turning around some of the best known Urdu-medium schools and recognise them as 'model schools'.
* Shabbir Ansari says these schools should admit students of all communities and offer science and maths in English medium, besides skill-based training.

Decade-wise rise in number of Urdu medium schools 
Year
Number of Urdu medium schools set up
Up to 1900
156
1901-1950
750
1951-60
296
1961-70
413
1971-80
434
1981-90
679
1991-2000
928
2001-2014
1,243
(Source: “Urdu medium schools in Maharashtra: Status and possibilities”, 2014, based on DISE data)

More Muslim girls than boys attend schools
Over 7,41,974 Muslim girls are studying in schools across Maharashtra in 2013-14, as compared to 5,57,655 boys. Experts say this is because more boys than girls drop out to find jobs. However, the student sex ratio in Hindi, Marathi and English medium schools is tilted towards the male child.

Students per classroom (medium-wise)
Marathi: 35.7
English: 48.9
Hindi: 64.0
Urdu: 50.8
Gujarati: 43.8
Bengali: 22.8
Kannada: 31.8
Sindhi: 38.1
Tamil: 31.7
Telugu: 30.8