Low female literacy rate in Kishanganj causes worry

patna: the low literacy rate among females in kishanganj and adjoining muslim-dominated areas is worrying the state education department. the female literacy rate of kishanganj district, according to the 2001 census, is about 20 per cent, very near to that in afghanistan which stands at about 18 per cent. "the literacy figures point out that despite the reports of the spread of madarsas in districts such as purnia, kishanganj, araria and katihar, the literacy rates are low.then what are these private madarsas doing?" asked a legislator of the ruling party. primary education minister ram chandra purbey has expressed concern over the low literacy rates. "we will launch a special programme to target the female population in the 10 districts in which the literacy rate is hovering at about 30 per cent," he said while insisting that it is necessary first to target the female population of any community to create awareness about education. the minister stated that he proposes to hold a workshop in the affected area on the issue. however, officials of his department point to the orthodoxy prevailing in the community with regard to girl children. "girl children in these areas are withdrawn even from madarsas as soon as they reach the age of 10," stated a senior official. he said that madarsas fail to arouse "ambition" for modern education and that while government madarsas have included subjects like physics, chemistry and even computers, private madarsas are still confined to teaching religion. he, however, admitted that private madarsas have far superior infrastructure as compared to government ones. the failure of muslims to increase their literacy rates is also attributed to their leaders. "many of the muslim mlas in these regions have been representing their constituencies for over 10 years, but not once have they ventured near schools or madarsas in their respective constituencies," said an rjd mla while maintaining that for development legislators belonging to the minority community give priority to roads and not education. senior ministers in the rabri devi government -- ghulam sarwar and shakeel ahmad -- lamented the plight of urdu language recently. state legislative council chairman jabir hussain, in a recent issue of the house magazine, referred to the low literacy rates in districts located near the borders with nepal and bangladesh having a thick muslim population. however, they have failed to question the orthodoxy in the community and the plight of madarsas.