=> ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: The process of bringing Madress
ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: The process of bringing Madressahs into the mainstream education system, the most important part of the Madressah Reforms plan, has been put on hold for the next government, according to sources in the ministry of religious affairs.
Two phases of reforms, registration and inclusion of additional subjects in the syllabus, the sources said, had been completed.
According to the ministry’s figures, 14,656 Madressahs have been registered, leaving only between 1,000 and 1,500 institutions all over the country without registration while the issue of incorporating federal education board’s syllabus into the Madressah course has also been settled.
Secretary Religious Affairs Vakil Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the president had advised the ministry to leave the third phase of integrating seminary students into the general system for the next government.
The registration, which was voluntary till 2004, was made compulsory through an ordinance in 2005.
The ministry of religious affairs also clarified a report about a letter sent by prime minister’s adviser on minority affairs, seeking details of Madressah reforms and said that the adviser, Amar Lal, had been appointed to look into the Hindu minority affairs and had nothing to do with Muslim affairs.
Mr Khan said that the ministry achieved its biggest success when it succeeded in persuading major organisations running the seminaries to include science and mathematics in the syllabus.
Out of 115 Madressahs in Islamabad, 105 had been registered and applications of the remaining institutions were being processed, meaning no Madressah would remain unregistered in the federal capital territory.
He said that the idea of setting up a federal Madressah board had been dropped because it was opposed by the Ittehad-i-Tanzimat Madaris Deeniah in 2005.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/12/2008
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