Education A Country s Civilization Depends Upon The...

â€Å"The claim of a country’s civilization depends upon the treatment to the minorities† - Mahatma Gandhi. India in its globalization era boasting about its nuclear power and information technology cannot deny the harsh realities of poverty, unemployment, over population, hunger, illiteracy etc. education is still continuing to be a luxury even for the middle class. Education plays a catalytic role in socio economic development of a country, education is not only an economic variable but is also socio economic variable. Education is the principal tool of social, development and unless all societies are provided with the right for of education, adequate in quantity and quality, it will not be possible to tackle satisfactorily the problems of†¦show more content†¦Any democratic society where such a large number of people are steeped in illiteracy, poverty and backwardness is doomed to disaster. Such a large percentage of backward people will be a milestone round the neck of the nation and their backwardness will impede progress of all. This fact of educational and economic backwardness of the Muslims has been conclusively established in several reports and surveys. The Gopal Singh Report, the Reports of 43rd Round and the 55th Round of the National Sample Survey and the Programme for Action under the New Education Policy of 1986 clearly show that the Muslim minority is educationally most backward segment of the nation. Backwardness is circular in nature. If a community is educationally backward, it also becomes economically backward and the economic backwardness leads to social backwardness which in turn reinforces educational backwardness. Education is one of the principal means available to foster deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance and oppression. It refines sensitivities and perceptions that contribute to national cohesion, a scientific temper and independence of mind and spirit, thus furthering the goals of socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in our constitution. EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF MUSLIMS IN INDIA: Poverty and education have a well established