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tribal children or Muslim children per se. While issues of access of the tribal hamlet was
influenced by remoteness we did not come across any significant factor that set Muslim families
apart from the rest of the poor households. The economic status of Muslims, who were landless,
was not significantly different from the non-Muslim poor households. It is also important to note
that there was also not much difference in immunisation and health status of children, school
enrolment and regularity of attendance.
However, attention needs to be paid to the overall importance of education in the region and its
role in determining the larger social educational norms of a community. For example in rural
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the norm is to send children to school and families that do not
conform to this social norm feel uncomfortable. Although this attitude is yet to be firmly
entrenched in Uttar Pradesh, our study reveals that this is clearly emerging in urban areas. (See
Box 15).
Box 20: Recognizing change: community and education in UP
Small school bags hang neatly in a row on a kutcha wall. This is not a classroom but the oneroom
house of a Muslim family in an urban slum in Sitapur district. The primary earner, father, is
a rickshaw puller who obviously believes in the value of education and ensures that all his six
children (2 boys and 4 girls) go to school – a local private school.
This is not an isolated instance. Contrary to stereotypical assertions regarding the lack of demand
for education in the Muslim community, our survey of Muslim households in UP revealed that
this is not the case and children were actively participating in mainstream education. 3 Muslim
households (2 rural & 1 urban) observed had a total of 14 children – 7 boys and 7 girls. Of these 2
boys and 1 girl had completed primary education and were not studying further. 6 children (2
boys & 4 girls) were attending the GPS and 1 boy was in a private school. 2 girls were enrolled in
the AWC.
In the UP sample of 18 households, there were only 2 girls who had completed primary
schooling. One of them is the eldest daughter of a Muslim household in village 1. She is unable to
continue with her studies, since her disabled father does not have the resources to send her to the
upper primary school that is located outside her own village. In the Muslim households surveyed,
57% of the fathers had some education – either religious or formal in nature, and 46% had studied
up to Class V or more. 21% of the mothers surveyed were educated either in formal schools, at
home, or in a madarsa.
Source: Uttar Pradesh Report
The interplay of gender with social and economic status adds another important dimension to the
issue. Gender relations in the family, community and in the society exert significant influence on
the ability of girl children to access services, nutrition, immunisation, healthcare (especially
during bouts of illness) and schooling. The good news, however, is that if girls do reach school
Educational Resource Unit Page 76 April 2003