MADRASSA EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
(threat to peace and tolerance).
In Pakistan,
traditionally madarassas have been a source of all types of knowledge for
Muslims where education even in the science subjects, was provided. With the
passage of time, the role of the traditional madrassas has been restricted just
to impart religious education in Pakistan such religious schools have not been
controlled and administered property, which is the reason why extremist
elements are being produced in these religious educational centres. The history
of this uncontrolled madrassa system in Pakistan dates back to the 1980s when the US and Saudi Arabia poured almost
four billion dollars for setting up
religious schools, the madrassas and since then, such schools have become the
breeding ground for religious extremists in Pakistan thus worsening the
security conditions even more.
Pakistan is a country which is facing acute security
problems. To tackle this issue, one sector is the quality of education in
religious schools, the main purpose of education is to enlighten the people, so
that they can have a proper understanding about
the various issues prevailing in the country and to educate the people
in such a way so that they can distinguish between the good and bad but
unfortunately this is not the case in as the US Commission on International
Religious Freedom has researched Pakistani school textbooks to discover that
there is religious biasness in almost every madrassa, which leads to societal
intolerance and maligns the minority groups.
The large number of Pakistan population lives in
small towns and villages. Poverty, feudalism, illiteracy and lack of awareness
leave the people with two choices, either to abandon the education of their
children or to induct them in religious schools. Most of the madrasas provide
free education, boarding and lodging services to the children and that is one of the reasons that they are hijacked
by religious extremist zealots who hypnotize the minds of the children, hence
providing perfect recruits to the extremist organizations. The curriculum,
which is taught in these madrassas needs particular importance, as it reflects
Islam as a religion of war and hate. Not only in the madrassas but also in the
regular schools of the country is highlighted with particular emphasis on
Islamic wars, thus neglecting the fact that Islam is a religion of peace as the
world Islam itself means peace, purity and submission and the wars fought in
Islamic history had a proper context and reasons.
Another problem in Pakistan, which is linked with
the current security situation in our society situation in our society is the
various sectarian schools getting their funding and backing from Saudi Arabia
and Iran while dividing Pakistani society into various sects. The sectarian
violence in the country has increased over the past years, with thousands of
people bing killed in the Sunni-Shia conflict.
Bold steps have to be taken by the government of
Pakistan to ensure that misguided madrassas are banned. Curriculum vision has
to be properly carried out. It is the authority and the right of the state to
make the curriculum of educational instuties. The madrassas have to be
registered and the state should have authority over the hiring and firing of
the Staff. Moreover the complete overhauling of the curriculum of regular
schools has to be undertaken. Peace and tolerance should be taught as a
separate subject just to mould the minds of young children along the lines of
acceptability and tolerance making them aware of the true picture of Islam.
Uniformity in education and removing divisions on a
religious and sectarian basis are the needs of the hour. The madrassas not only
widen a certain kind of ideology to students they also spread it in society to
the families and extended families of these students and this has to be stopped
otherwise immoral subjects like intolerance and unacceptability will rule our
society. Moreover madrassas have to be modernized so that they do not seem
alien to the majority of the people in Pakistan which is only possible when
madrassa education does not fall prey to the extremist elements.
