Pakistan madrassa reforms | Talimi Basta NGO

Pakistan madrassa reforms in tatters
Islamabad, July 17: The government has
virtually shelved a US-aided, multi-million dollar plan to reform madrassas considered nurseries of terrorism, as it has failed to garner the support of clerics.

The government initiated the project in 2002 in a bid to introduce a more secular curriculum in madrassas.

The project sought to introduce computer skills, science, social studies and English into the overwhelmingly religious curriculum at thousands of madrassas across the country.

Utility: "We had a huge budget of Rs 5,759 million ($71 million) to provide madrassa students with formal education but we could not utilise it," Education Ministry spokesman Atiqur Rehman said.

"The Interior Ministry held talks with various madrassas... but many of them refused to accept the government's intervention," said Mufti Gulzar Ahmed Naeemi, a senior official of the mainstream Sunni clerics alliance, Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat.

As a result, the government has failed to meet the target of reforming around 8,000 religious schools within five years.

"We reached 507 madrassas only, spending Rs 333 million and the rest of the [money] – Rs 5,426 million has lapsed," Rehman said.

According to government records, there are at least 15,148 madrassas in Pakistan with more than two million students – around five percent of the 34 million children in formal education.

But officials suspect many more remain unregistered, becoming the only source of education for thousands of impoverished children across the country.

A majority of the madrassas get the required funds from local businessmen and traders, along with religious foundations, charities and Pakistanis living abroad.

The Education Ministry says it introduced the "latest computer technology" to 30 madrassas and paid the salaries of 950 teachers on a three-year scheme.

Expiry: "We will pay these teachers until June 30 in 2010 and then this project will be closed because no more madrassas are being included in the reform project," the ministry spokesman said.

Teachers who participated in the scheme are desperately worried about the future of their pupils if their new lessons are scrapped.

"This programme must be continued. The madrassa students are getting real benefits out of it and are entering the field of formal education and computer technology," one of the teachers said. "I'm paid 3,000 rupees by the government for this job. My contract ends on June 30 in 2010 but I plan to continue this duty. This is really national service," he said.

In Rawalpindi, Syed Haseenuddin Shah recalled one of his students who switched from religious studies to computer science and ended up with a degree.

"There are so many students following him who regularly attend computer classes in the madrassa," Shah said.

Some analysts believe the government's military onslaught against the Taliban could improve prospects for reviving plans to reshape the role of madrassas.

"Any effort by the government at this point will show they are determined to curb terrorism by all ways and means," defence analyst Talat Masood said, calling on Islamabad to re-launch the programme and provide free education. afp