Mundigarh (Karnal), April 2
Though a school exists in this village in the district which is gearing up for the EDUSAT (education through satellite) programme, parents prefer sending their wards to madarsa instead of any educational institution.

Here, girl education is taboo and the parents prefer not to send them to schools. In the school of this district that happens to be the birthplace of the late astronaut Kalpana Chawala, no girl has ever studied beyond class V, a fact revealed by illiterate villagers.

But officials in the district education department are unaware about it.

It is evident from the fact that the only girl candidate of Government Primary School at Mundigarhi has managed to pass her class V board exams and that too after a gap of eight years.

In the primary class results declared today, Gulistan, the only girl candidate out of 11 students in class V, has secured 150 marks out of 250.

In the government school, there are only 160 students of which 26 are girls whereas in the madarsa located just opposite the school more than 250 youngsters are enrolled to take religious lessons.

Out of the total students at madarsa, 50 per cent are girls below 10, confirmed Maulvi Shakeel Ahmad.

Interestingly, two elder sisters of Gulistan, namely, Kausida and Nasira, had successfully passed their primary board exams in 1999, he informed.