The government is likely
to lift the ban on registration of Madressahs, clearing
the way for thousands of religious seminaries to get themselves
registered, sources in the education ministry told FACT.
The federal ministries of education, religious
affairs and interior, involved in the management of Madressahs
one way or the other, have in principle agreed to lift
the ban on the registration, the sources said.
However, the sources said the interior
ministry had expressed its reservation over the issue
and recommended to the education ministry to work out
strict criteria for registration of Madressahs, they said.
The move was basically initiated by Education
Minister Zobaida Jalal who wanted to include the unregistered
seminaries in the ongoing Madressah reforms, the sources
said.
The ministry had started the Madressah
reform programme at an estimated cost of Rs5.759 billion.
It was one of the ongoing projects of the education ministry
under the Public Sector Development Programme 2004-05
with an allocation of Rs1,500 million.
The ban on registration of new Madressahs
has been in force since mid-nineties. Nonetheless, their
mushroom growth couldn't be curtailed and at present according
to estimates there are around 70,000 Madressahs in the
country.
However, the sources in the education
ministry put the number of registered and unregistered
Madressahs at 12,000 and 8,000, respectively. After 9/11,
the religious schools, which provide free education besides
lodging facility, came under spotlight and were blamed
for spreading extremism.
Thereafter, due to a number of internal
and external pressures, the government embarked upon streamlining
the Madressahs by introducing regular subjects alongside
religious education.
To integrate Madressahs into formal education
system, subjects like English, Mathematics, General Science,
Economics and Pakistan Studies, etc., are being included
in the Madressah curricula and their Asnad (certificates)
at matric, intermediate and graduate levels would be equated
with formal education.
Incentives like reprinting of selected
textbooks and their distribution amongst the Madressahs,
annual grant-in-aid, imparting training to their teachers
through workshops, improvement of libraries, etc., are
also being extended to religious schools.
The education ministry has also decided
to provide opportunities of pursuing higher studies for
the Madressah students in the appropriate fields of studies.
Likewise, the facilities and concessions available to
the students of formal educational organizations will
be admissible to those in the registered Madressahs.
