| RIYADH, 23 November 2006 — Indian Minister of State for Human Resource Development M. A. A. Fatmi has vowed to provide better access to education through distance learning programs and by establishing examination centers for various professional courses in Saudi Arabia. "Centers for medical examination will be opened soon, while a center for engineering entrance test has already been opened in Riyadh," said Fatmi, who wrapped up his weeklong visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. "Since Muslims or other minority groups in India lag behind on almost every measure of well-being including education, my ministry is making efforts to serve them with added incentives and preferences," he said addressing a crowded community reception hosted in his honor at the Marhaba Restaurant. The reception was co-chaired by Nadeem Tarin, chairman of the Riyadh-based Delhi Public School Managing Committee and Dr. Dilnawaz Roomi, a social worker and prominent physician. Tarin and Mohammed Qaiser, Indian Airlines country manager, spoke on the occasion and drew the attention of the visiting minister toward the hardships faced by students in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. During his stay in Riyadh, Fatmi held wide-ranging talks with Indian Ambassador M. O. H. Farook with an aim to identify the problems faced by students in Saudi Arabia. The minister said that he is carrying with him a list of demands made by the ambassador and his countrymen living in the Kingdom. Referring to the recently released Sachar panel report, Fatmi said that the report has revealed the pathetic situation of Muslims concerning different issues like income, work participation rates, representation in public institutions, access to credit, health care and housing. "Muslim leaders agree that Muslims need better access to education," said Fatmi, while noting that the Engineering College at the Aligarh Muslim University has been upgraded to IIT status. Fatmi, however, regretted that Muslims did not care much about education, which can be substantiated by the fact that only 57 percent of Muslims in India can read and write against the national average of 64.5 percent. "Hence, the HRD ministry has decided to deploy one teacher to every 40 students in over 100,000 madrasas across the country to impart modern education," he said. "We have been giving millions of dollars to the state governments to spend on elementary education under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, but states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal don't utilize the money," he added. He also warned that if the state did not open the remaining Kasturba schools soon, the funds under the head would be stopped, a fact he had conveyed to the state government. Fatmi also added that the Indian government was implementing a program to upgrade the quality of technical education. The World Bank-assisted Technical Education Quality Improvement Program is currently in first phase and under the project, the government had received proposals from 132 institutions in 13 states. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment