Dr. Reyaz Ahmad
Whenever a student from a disadvantaged locality succeeds in a highly competitive examination, the entire community feels proud. A felicitation programme is organised, respected personalities are invited, speeches are delivered, photographs are taken, garlands are presented and the successful student is celebrated as an inspiration for the younger generation.
Such programmes have value. They recognise hard work, encourage parents to educate their children and challenge the belief that students from poor or marginalised families cannot succeed in medicine, engineering, civil services or other competitive fields. When young children see someone from their own neighbourhood achieving a distinguished rank, success begins to appear possible rather than distant.
But an uncomfortable question must also be asked: Will felicitation ceremonies, emotional speeches and public celebrations alone bring educational, economic and social development to the Muslim community in India?
The honest answer is no.
Felicitation is meaningful, but felicitation without follow-up remains ceremonial. It celebrates the student who has already crossed the river, while thousands of other children remain stranded on the opposite bank without books, guidance, financial assistance, competent teachers or a clear pathway towards higher education and employment.
A garland can honour achievement, but it cannot replace a school. A trophy can encourage a student, but it cannot provide coaching, scholarships, digital access, career counselling or employment. A speech may motivate an audience for an evening, but only strong institutions can transform a generation.
The challenge before the Muslim community is therefore not merely to celebrate successful individuals. It is to convert every individual success into a permanent system of opportunity for others.
From one achiever to ten future achievers
Every felicitation programme should lead immediately to a mentoring initiative.
The successful student should not only be invited to receive an award. He or she should also be encouraged to mentor younger students from the same locality. If one successful candidate guides ten or fifteen students for one year, explains the examination process, shares study material and helps them avoid common mistakes, the programme will begin to produce lasting results.
At the felicitation venue itself, organisers can register students from Classes 8 to 12, create subject-wise mentoring groups and connect them with teachers, doctors, engineers, civil servants, professors and other professionals.
The success of the event should not be measured by the number of people who attended, the size of the stage or the number of photographs published on social media. It should be measured by the number of students who received guidance, scholarships, books, coaching and career support after the event.
The new principle should be simple:
One achiever must help produce the next ten achievers.
Know the community before planning for it
Most community organisations do not possess reliable educational data about the people they claim to serve.
Every locality should conduct a household-level educational survey. Community leaders should know how many children are attending school, how many have dropped out, how many are weak in mathematics, science or English, how many completed Class 10 and Class 12, how many graduates are unemployed and how many students lack fees, documents, digital devices or transport.
Without such information, help usually reaches the most visible families, while the poorest and most vulnerable children remain unnoticed.
A simple confidential digital register can track students from school admission to higher education and employment. Once the community knows where its students are falling behind, resources can be directed intelligently instead of being distributed emotionally or randomly.
Strengthen foundations before expensive coaching
Many families begin thinking about competitive examinations only after Class 10 or Class 12. By then, students may already have weak foundations in mathematics, science, English, reading and reasoning.
A few months of coaching cannot repair ten years of poor schooling.
Community educational centres should therefore begin supporting children from Classes 5 or 6. They should offer strong teaching in mathematics, scientific reasoning, English communication, computer literacy, writing, general knowledge and study skills.
Students should be assessed every three months. Those falling behind should receive remedial support immediately.
The most important educational investment may not always be another expensive NEET or JEE coaching institute. Sometimes, the greatest need is a competent mathematics teacher, a good English teacher, a quiet library and a computer laboratory available to children every evening.
Education must go beyond NEET, JEE and UPSC
Muslim society often celebrates only doctors, engineers and civil servants. These professions deserve respect, but presenting them as the only signs of success can create frustration and narrow the ambitions of young people.
Only a small percentage of candidates can qualify for highly competitive examinations. Thousands of intelligent students can build successful careers in nursing, pharmacy, teaching, law, finance, accounting, banking, data science, cybersecurity, electronics, renewable energy, logistics, design, agriculture, food technology, technical trades and entrepreneurship.
Career-guidance centres should explain the full range of opportunities available after Classes 10 and 12. Students should be informed about admission requirements, course costs, scholarships, employment prospects and the quality of institutions.
Guidance must not stop at telling students what degree to pursue. It should help them understand what skills employers need and what career pathways are realistic.
The objective should not be to produce only a few highly celebrated toppers. It should be to ensure that every young person acquires a dignified and employable skill.
Girls’ education must become a central priority
The progress of Muslim society is impossible without the educational and economic participation of women.
The AISHE 2023–24 data presents an encouraging sign: women constituted more than half of Muslim enrolment in higher education. However, enrolment alone is not enough. Educated women must also be allowed and supported to complete professional courses, enter employment, start businesses and take leadership roles.
Communities should provide safe transport, hostel assistance, scholarships, female mentors, digital-skills training and support for women who wish to return to education or employment after marriage or family responsibilities.
Parents should be counselled about safe and dignified professional opportunities for their daughters.
A community cannot claim progress by educating its women and then preventing them from using their education.
Convert charity into capacity building
Muslim communities contribute significant amounts through zakat, sadaqah, waqf and private donations. Yet much of this support remains fragmented, unrecorded and focused only on immediate relief.
Food assistance and emergency support are necessary, but poverty will continue from one generation to another unless a substantial part of community funding is invested in education, skills and income-producing opportunities.
District-level education and livelihood funds should be created with complete transparency. They should publish the amount collected, administrative expenses, selection criteria, beneficiaries, examination results, course completion rates and employment outcomes.
Priority should be given to preventing school dropout, supporting professional education, paying examination fees, establishing libraries and computer centres, creating hostels and providing assistance for small enterprises.
Charity must not merely help people survive poverty. It must help them escape poverty.
Connect education directly with employment
A degree without employable skills can produce educated unemployment.
Educational organisations should build partnerships with hospitals, schools, universities, banks, engineering companies, technology firms and local businesses. Students should receive internships, apprenticeships, workplace exposure, interview preparation, communication training, CV support and professional mentoring.
Every scholarship programme should track what happens after the student completes the course. Did the student obtain employment? Was the degree relevant to the labour market? Did the student develop professional skills?
Government programmes such as PM VIKAS, PMJVK and financing facilities offered through the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation can support education, skilling, women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and community infrastructure. However, many eligible families do not know how to access these opportunities.
Community organisations should establish professional help desks to guide applicants, assist with documentation and monitor the implementation of government schemes.
Produce employers, not only job seekers
Government jobs and salaried employment cannot absorb every educated young person.
Muslim professionals, traders and businesspeople must build entrepreneurship networks. Young people should receive training in business planning, accounting, taxation, digital marketing, e-commerce and legal compliance.
Apprenticeship networks can connect young people with established businesses. Women’s producer groups, artisan cooperatives, technology start-ups, food-processing ventures and digital marketplaces can create employment within the community.
Those who have achieved financial success should not limit their contribution to occasional donations. They should mentor entrepreneurs, invest in new businesses and help first-generation professionals enter competitive markets.
The objective should be to create not only job seekers, but also employers, innovators, investors and institution builders.
Reform community institutions
One of the greatest weaknesses within the community is institutional fragmentation.
Several organisations may operate in the same locality, each running a small and poorly resourced coaching centre. Instead of competing for recognition, they should combine their resources to establish one high-quality institution with qualified teachers, laboratories, libraries, counselling and transparent management.
Community institutions should have audited accounts, fixed terms for office-bearers, measurable annual targets and representation of women, youth, teachers and professionals.
Leadership should not remain controlled permanently by a few individuals or families. Institutions must survive beyond personalities.
Development requires continuity, accountability and professional management—not occasional emotional mobilisation.
Community effort cannot replace government responsibility
Muslims must reform their own institutions, but internal reform alone is not enough.
Government remains responsible for providing quality schools, scholarships, healthcare, infrastructure, fair employment opportunities, access to credit and protection against discrimination.
The Sachar Committee had already highlighted the disadvantages faced by Muslims in education, employment, public representation, access to credit and basic infrastructure. Many of these concerns remain relevant.
Citizens should use constitutional and democratic methods to demand properly staffed schools, timely scholarships, functioning health centres, libraries, hostels, fair recruitment and transparent implementation of minority-development programmes.
Documentation, public representations, Right to Information applications, legal remedies and democratic participation must replace helplessness and silence.
Demanding equal rights is not seeking special favour. It is seeking equal citizenship.
A new model for felicitation programmes
Future felicitation events should be redesigned.
Before the programme, organisers should study the successful student’s complete journey: family background, financial difficulties, failed attempts, preparation methods and sources of guidance.
During the programme, the student should explain not only success but also struggle, discipline, mistakes and practical examination strategies.
At the conclusion, organisers should announce a mentoring group, scholarship fund, monthly test programme, career-guidance desk and measurable targets for the coming year.
After twelve months, the achiever should be invited again—not merely to receive another honour, but to report how many students were mentored and what progress they made.
This would convert celebration into institution building.
From symbolism to social transformation
According to AISHE 2023–24, approximately 22.5 lakh Muslim students were enrolled in higher education out of a total national enrolment of about 4.5 crore. Muslim participation has increased over the years, but representation remains below the community’s population share.
This gap cannot be closed through speeches alone.
Muslim society in India does not suffer from a lack of talent. It suffers from unequal opportunity, weak educational foundations, poverty, poor career guidance, fragmented institutions, limited professional networks and the absence of long-term planning.
The community must therefore move:
From celebration to preparation.
From charity alone to capacity building.
From personalities to institutions.
From isolated success to mass opportunity.
From emotional speeches to measurable outcomes.
From producing a few exceptional achievers to creating a realistic pathway for every child.
A felicitation ceremony can light a lamp, but community development requires an entire electrical grid.
The real honour given to a successful student is not the size of the garland placed around his neck, the number of dignitaries present on the stage or the applause generated by his achievement.
The real honour lies in ensuring that his success opens a permanent door through which hundreds of other children can also walk towards education, employment, dignity and national progress.
(The author is a freelancer and can be reached at [email protected])
