There has been a significant shift of Muslim students from government to private pre-university colleges (PUC) in Karnataka’s Udupi district, the epicentre of movement against Hijab ban, according to The Indian Express.
Data accessed by newspaper shows that Muslim students’ enrolment in government PUCs has dropped by half from the previous year. The number is also the lowest in five years. However, the number of Muslim students entering Class 11 across all pre-university colleges in Udupi is almost the same.
91 Muslim female students were admitted to PUC I in government institutions in Udupi as against 178 in 2021-22 and the enrolment of Muslim male students dropped from 210 to 95, shows a gender break-up.
In 2022-23, 927 Muslim students enrolled in PUC I in private colleges as opposed to 662 in 2021-22. Admission of Muslim boys shows an increase from 334 to 440 and girls from 328 to 487, according to admissions data accessed by The Indian Express.
“The enrollment of Muslim girls in our PU college has almost doubled for the first time. This is a testament to how the hijab issue has actually impacted them personally and academically,” the newspaper quotes Aslam Haikady, administrator of Saliath Group of Education as says.
The admissions data also show, Udupi is the only district in Karnatala where the number of Muslim female students in government PUCs has failed to cross double digits.