Co-education can hamper education of Muslim girls as it would "distract" the students. This is the view of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions set up to assess the status of literacy among Muslims and devise ways to improve it.

"There should be no co-education till the Class XII," the Commission Chairman Justice M S A Siddiqui said in New Delhi.

To press his point, he argued that young students will take time to understand the concept of co-education before they grow up to a particular age.

"Once the girls acquire education up to Class XII, they start talking their mind. That helps them to deal with the concept at college level," he said.

"The restriction will not only benefit girls but also the boys. Avoiding co-education will help them to be away from distractions," Siddiqui said.

The chairman feels that the distractions will hamper the efforts to make literate the maximum number of Muslim children, particularly girls.

"Literacy level is low in many of the pockets dominated by the (Muslim) community. Education and awareness levels are low. Therefore, the restriction will help both boys and girls to first grow and understand the society and its demands," he added.

 The commission has recently set up a committee to conduct a study on education level among Muslims across the country.

A committee, headed by Ipshita Chakravorty and includes Sadia Dehlavi and Seema Wahab, will prepare a report after interactions with the community members and workshops.

"We do not want chaos over this issue. This is the reason we are conducting a comprehensive study to justify the reasons behind this decision (of avoiding co-education)," said the chairman.

The committee will identify extra-ordinary talent across the country and help such students get funds from financial institutions to continue their studies.

Courses at all the women colleges will preferably be supplemented with vocational training programmes. These vocational training programmes will help them earn some money.

"Income-generating programmes always become popular," Siddiqui said.

"Girls tend to support their families and want to be self-reliant instead of being a liability. So the income generating schemes always help them continue studies," he said.