Muslim student enrolment in higher education up by 183,000 in 2016-21: MoE

The enrolment of Muslim students in higher education institutions increased to 19.22 lakh in 2020-21 from 17.39 lakh in 2016-17, Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar said on Wednesday.

The number of teachers from the Muslim community also increased significantly to 86,314 in 2020-21 from 67,215 in 2016-17, he said.

The minister shared the statistics from the All India Survey on Higher Education, 2020-21, in response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha.

"As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2020-21, the enrolment of Muslim students has increased to 19.22 lakh in 2020-21 from 17.39 lakh in 2016-17. The number of teachers from the Muslim community has shown (a) significant increase to 86,314 in 2020-21 from 67,215 in 2016-17, as reported under AISHE, 2020-21," he said.

"The government is encouraging minority students through various initiatives," Sarkar added.

He shared that the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs implements three educational empowerment schemes for students from six notified minority communities -- Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian -- all over the country.