Patna: Girls have outperformed boys in the examinations held by Bihar's Madrassa Education Board for the second consecutive year.

"Girls have outperformed boys in the madrassa results. Maulvi, Fauquania and Vastania topped in the Class 12, Class 10 and middle school examinations," Maulana Ajaj Ahmad, chairman of the Madrassa Education Board of Bihar, said on Thursday.

"Girls have been performing better than boys in the results of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) and Bihar board examinations in the past," Ahmad told the sources.

"It is really a matter of pride for all of us. Girls have been doing better than boys for the last few years. This is the beginning of a new trend," he added.

According to sources, Bihar has over 4,000 madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, including 1,127 state-run Islamic schools where students are provided free books and mid-day meals.

The state government decided early this week to provide financial support to 2,700 unaided madrassas.

According to Bihar State Madrassa Education Board, there are only 32 madrassas for girls under the government-aided category and 576 in the unaided category.

According to the 2001 Census report, Muslim women have a literacy rate of 50.1 percent in India. The situation in Bihar is even grimmer with the literacy rate for Muslim women at 31.5 percent. IANS