By outnumbering boys of the community in the government schools of the state, Muslim girls of Bihar have exploded the myth that they lag behind in the field of education. There are 178,842 more girls than boys studying in them. According to human resource development department data for 2015-16, the total number of Muslim students enrolled in government schools stands at 3,552,078. Of this 1,686,618 are boys and 1,865,460 girls.

This is apart from those studying in the private schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and madrasas. At 1.75 crore, Muslims form 16.9 per cent of the total population of Bihar (10.41 crore). In each and every class -- from Class I to Class X - the number of girls is more than that of boys. Even the dropout rate is a bit more among boys. Curiously, more Muslim girls -- 243,558 -- took admission in Class I than boys -- 239,575 -- in April 2015, when the academic session started. Interestingly, the number of boys and girls increased in Class II -- 243,711 boys and 253,197 girls. The figures for Class III are 232,114 boys and 242,739 girls; for Class IV, 225,110 boys and 246,790 girls and for Class V, 206,052 boys and 228,000 girls.

But it is after Class V that the number falls drastically. There are two reasons behind this. Primary schools (I to V) are usually situated within the village or locality, and are thus easy to reach.

Second, after Class V, many poor parents take their children, especially boys, out of school and put them in any job -- many of them outside their hometown or village. That is why the dropout rate is sharp in Class VI. The number of boys come down to 142,538 against 167,407 girls. In Class VII, the figure plummeted further to 130,644 boys and 160,144 girls. In Class VIII, there are 118,861 boys against 152,013 girls.

Ironically, the bicycle distribution schemes for the boys and girls of Class IX could not check the decline in the number of Muslim students. Again, the fall is sharper among boys (80,840) than among girls (92,983). In Class X, the figure for boys come down to 67,173 and to 78,629 for girls. Thus the number of students in Class X is only one-third of that in Class I.

There is another reason why there are less boys than girls in schools. Many poor families prefer to send boys to madrasas and orphanages as there is little scope for girls in them.

Sheikhpura and Arwal districts have the least number of Muslim students. In Class I, 430 boys and 376 girls got enrolled in Sheikhpura. By Class X, the number came down to 248 boys and 287 girls. In Arwal, only 586 boys and 628 girls got enrolled in Class I. By Class X, the figures came down to 454 boys and 460 girls. In Kishanganj, which has the highest percentage of Muslims - 67 per cent - 19,191 boys and 19,595 girls took admission in Class I. By Class X, 2,453 boys and 3,265 girls are left. In Katihar, which has a sizeable Muslim population, 23,146 boys and 23,734 girls took admission in Class I, which is highest in the state. But the dropout rate is high here too. Only 3,663 boys and 3,607 girls entered Class X in 2015-16.

It is in East Champaran that the highest number of Muslim students reached Class X - 3,861 boys and 3,803 girls. In Purnea, 20,405 boys and 20,312 girls got enrolled in Class I and 4,733 boys and 5,520 girls reached Class X in 2015. In Araria, where too Muslims form a good percentage of population, there are 21,494 boys and 21,377 girls in Class I but only 2,278 boys and 2,408 girls in Class X.

In Patna, where there is a large number of private schools -- several of them run by Muslims - only 2,233 boys and 2,355 girls are enrolled in government schools. By Class X, the figures come down to 1,312 boys and 1,752 girls.

(This article was also published in the telegraph)