Madressas to be mainstreamed, funds allocated

Staff Reporter

Rawalpindi

Pakistan military has said that madressas in the country will be mainstreamed and the government has now allocated funds to implement the plan.
Briefing the media, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor explained in detail how the state has planned to implement the scheme.
In January 2019, a decision was made in principle to mainstream the 30,000 plus seminaries and 2.5 million students receiving education there, he said but the plan was put on back burner due to financial constraints. Then in February, funds were allocated for the purpose and now the military is working with Ministry of Education to prepare the syllabus and introduce contemporary subjects in the new curriculum.
The Army Chief in the past few months have had extensive interactions with the religious scholars from different sects and they were of the view that opportunities for the students passing out from the seminaries are very limited.
Currently, we need Rs 2 billion at the earliest and Rs 1 billion on yearly basis for the purpose. The education ministry is preparing a new syllabus which will include modern subjects to be taught to these students.
The madaris have their own system of operations. About 70% of them charge Rs1,000 per student, 25% charge Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 and five percent charge Rs15,000 to Rs20,000. There are some madaris which give students basic education but many which don’t. “Now, the problem that arises is what job opportunities do these children have when complete their education. They can be employed to teach religion. Do they not have the right to become whatever they want?”

The post Madressas to be mainstreamed, funds allocated appeared first on Pakistan Observer.

from Pakistan Observer http://bit.ly/2GIS41E