Daily Times

The government has, it appears, come up with a mainstreaming project of its own. And its focus is on seminaries. Thus this week has seen it promote a new report: The Role of Madrasas; a collaboration among the local Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) as well as the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS); Afghanistan’s Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies; and the Royal Danish Defence College (RDDC). In its introduction, this grouping notes that it has spent the last two years conducting research across borders and continents to come up with a detailed reform agenda.

The Interior Minister seemingly saw in it something that he liked. After all, at a seminar to promote the report he confirmed that funds have already been released to undertake education reforms aimed at mainstreaming madrassas in terms of their curricula. Meaning that in addition to following religious syllabi — students would also be introduced to those taught in ordinary schools and colleges.

While we wholeheartedly support this move, we do nevertheless have some concerns; not with the concept of madrassa reform but rather with the logistics of this particular project. Naturally the research process can be a lengthy one. But it is rather convenient that this is being unveiled just six months before Pakistanis head to the polls. In other words, the citizenry has been effectively robbed of the chance to review the government’s performance on this front before they cast their ballots. Thus it will be up to us, the media, as well as civil society to keep asking important questions in the run-up to summertime elections. This is to say nothing of the way in which the government has presented it as an almost done deal. After all, the man at the Interior, Ahsan Iqbal, has said that the seminary reform package has been completed and is simply awaiting parliamentary backing.

So, allow us to get the ball rolling and ask for some transparency regarding the cost of this research project as well as who picked up the tab? We are interested simply because Pakistan is home to some 38,000 seminaries; which, in turn, are home to around 3.5million students. Some of the findings from the report were instructive. Such as the fact that when it comes to reasons for enrolling children in madrassas — religion and education are equal factors; with 41.35 of families citing the former and 43.14 percent the latter. Equally significant is that 93 percent of seminary funding comes from inside Pakistan.

The report comes up with eight policy recommendations, including: the need to prioritise investing in the public education system; ensuring all madrassas are registered; and encouraging and facilitating transparency and accountability in terms of funding. These solutions are well known and need to be implemented with the requisite political will. For as long as the Pakistani state doesn’t show that it understands the urgency of countering extremism and, linked to that, madrassa reform — we will continue to be bombarded with such reports that tell us what we already know.  *

Published in Daily Times, February 1^st 2018.