Regularization of Pakistan's unregistered Madrassahs
Only 507 madressahs provided assistance under Madressah Reforms Package
Islamabad, Oct 9: The Senate has been told the actual number of madressahs in the country
far exceeds the 15,843 that have been registered. The largest number –
over 11,000 – is located in Punjab. Only 507 madressahs have been
provided assistance by the education ministry under the Madressah
Reforms Package of the previous government. The vast majority remain
well beyond the ambit of government control, with no means of
ascertaining what is taught or how. The limited studies carried out
suggest that even when madressah pupils are not encouraged to back
militancy, they are brainwashed into believing women are inferior or
that Indians represent a threat to Muslims. Such opinions have crossed
over into the mainstream. The new educational policy announced by the
PPP government incorporates many hard-line views and fails to take into
account the possible presence of non-Muslim children in classrooms. We
are told the government succumbed to pressure from the religious right
to avoid tampering with 'Islamic' components of the policy – even
though in most cases these have nothing to do with Islam and its focus
on tolerance and peace. Extremism continues to haunt us. It does
so in part because we have consistently failed to heed the voices of
sanity. An eminent religious scholar has suggested religious education
be declared a 'speciality' and be pursued only after ten years or more
of regular schooling. Other persons with religious learning have
suggested that the views of Al-Azhar University, the premier
institution of Sunni Islam, be promoted and followed more widely. Such
counsel makes sense. It is time we adopted policies that could help us
escape the nightmare of extremism into which we have been hurled as a
result of the flawed policies of the past. The news
20,000 unregistered madressahs
Islamabad: If the government was under any illusion that exercising control over
the madressahs after the latter had been allowed to proliferate was an
easy task, it must be learning the hard way that it faces a major
challenge. When the interior minister informed the National Assembly
the other day that an agreement had been reached with the Ittehad
Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Pakistan to set up a regulatory body, his statement
was refuted by a leader of the ITMP. In fact, it appears that an
agreement had indeed been signed between the two sides. For the
representatives of the seminaries to term it as premature is an
indication of the rocky road that lies ahead for the madressah
regulation process. Little progress has been achieved on this front
ever since the Musharraf regime announced in the wake of 9/11 its
intention to reform the seminaries. Even the number of institutions
could not be accurately determined as many institutions refused to
cooperate with the organisers of the school census held in 2005. Now we
are told that there are 20,000 madressahs that need to be registered.
Reports speak of a large number of seminaries that have been defiant in
this respect. So far the government has adopted a
conciliatory approach. The National Education Policy provides for the
establishment of a regulatory authority to work under the interior
ministry - not the education ministry, as would have been logical. The
aim is to bring these institutions into the mainstream by introducing
modern curricula to be taught alongside with courses on religion. We do
not know if these will also be streamlined because many of these
institutions are known to preach jihad and violence. There is also a
need to impart instruc- tion through rational pedagogic methods so that
students learn religion by applying reason and comprehension. Dawn
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Governemt high School's demand perturbed parents
Islamabad: The parents of children studying in Government Girls High School,
Muslim Town, are perturbed over the step taken by the principal of
demanding an affidavit from them as a condition for appearing in the
Annual Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination. The
step is the figment of her imagination as there is no rule that makes
it obligatory for parents-guardians to submit such an affidavit. There
of course are BISE rules that authorise the head of an institution to
withhold the admission form of a candidate and disallow her to appear
in the next examination, for shortage of lectures or getting F grade in
the internal assessment scheme. Government Girls High School
Naeema Rana has obtained affidavits from parents-guardians of students,
making it clear to them that in case their child fails in the pre-board
test, she would not be allowed to sit in the SSC examination. Parents
of the students, on condition of anonymity said that the
principal of the school has forced parents of all students of SSC to
submit an affidavit with the school that must state that the school
administration would not be compelled to send the admission of any
student, if she fails to qualify in the pre-board test. "We
have submitted the affidavit, as our children were forcing us to do
so," parents said and added that they sent their children to school to
get education and if the principal has proper control over the
administration and sees to it that proper education is being imparted,
there is no question that a girl should normally fail. However it is a
bitter fact that teachers in most schools do not take pains to teach
their students as was done in the past. Government Girls High School Principal Naeema Rana said, "The affidavit
I have obtained from parents states that if the attendance of any
student is not up to the mark, the school administration will not
process her admission form for the SSC examination." She said the main
purpose of getting this affidavit is to force parents to concentrate on
their children's attendance. While parents claim that the
school has provided an affidavit specimen to children in which it is
clearly mentioned that the school would not process the admission of
any student, who would not qualify in the pre-board test. District Education
Officer Malik Ashraf, however, said, "There is no such law that demands
any kind of affidavit from parents." He added that if any school head
is doing so, it is his or her own decision and action would be taken
against those who make their own rules and laws. "I will send a notice
to all schools to stop such a practice, as it is not required," he
added.
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Sanitation week at AIOU
Islamabad: The students and staff of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) actively participated in the
'Sanitation Week' campaign started on Thursday to highlight the
importance of cleanliness. AIOU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr
Mehmood-ul-Hassan Butt, inaugurated the campaign by painting the bank
of footpath in front of the central library in the main campus of
university. Emphasising the importance of cleanliness, Professor
Mehmood- ul-Hassan Butt said that "cleanliness is not only the name to
keep clean and neat ourselves and our surroundings but it is necessary
to keep ourselves clean internally." Hygiene is also an important part
of the fundamental and social directions of Islam, he added. The
teachers, officers and employees of the university also participated in
the campaign. The news
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