Daily Times

Madrassah reforms have been the subject of critical importance but have failed to garner the attention of the leaders for years, especially amid the war on terror going on in Afghanistan and the threat of radicalism that persists in the region. For that purpose, a body Pakistan Madrassah Education Board (PMEB) was established approximately 16 years ago. Recently, reports have emerged that despite the critical concerns and pledges of different governments over the years, the performance of the board has remained dismal, to say the least. Only nine meeting of the PMEB hasbeen held since its establishment in 2001 despite spending millions from the public exchequer. PMEB was created to establish model Islamic seminaries in the country and have other seminaries affiliated with it, but after almost two decades, the board has achieved very little.The government endeavoured to establish its own board to compete with the existing five Wafaqs and Tanzeemat with which 95 percent of the seminaries are affiliated. However, the government effort could not materialisein view of the fact that the Wafaqs and Tanzeemat, who were to nominate their representative for the board, refused to adopt the government’s initiative and did not nominate their members.

According to the reports, the PMEB has only established three seminaries in Islamabad, Karachi, and Sukkur despite the lapse of 16 years.The board’s targets of conducting technical skill courses, establishing libraries in Islamic seminaries, formulating a curriculum for all the seminaries along with an examination system, and conducting teacher training programmes, have not been achieved as the board never became functional.Six meetings were held from 2001 to 2004, followed by an 11-year gap in which none took place. The last three meetings have taken place in thelast three years. The documents further show that ten chairmen have been appointed since the establishment of the PMEB. Out of the ten, only three were appointed on a permanent basis. These chairmen received more than Rs 13 million in salary and various allowances, whereas the total budget of the PMEB from 2015-2017 was Rs 53 million.

Following the APS attacks in 2014 and the subsequent formulation of National Action Plan (NAP), Madrassah reforms were included in the 20 points of NAP. The reforms were a critical subject during the war on terror in Afghanistan following the 9/11 incident, but the issue withered away slowly. The vow was reignited following the APS incident, but hardly anything has been done in the past three years except for doling out millions to the board. Countless unregistered and unregulated seminaries continue to function without any checks. While the recent uptick in violence across the country has sounded alarm bells on the implementation of NAP, the case of Madrassah reforms should be undertaken as well. There have been reports of alleged embezzlement in the budget of the PMEB which need to be investigated. If the board is to function in this way, it better to dissolve it. There is a need to reform the board and make it comply according to the original premise it was to be formed upon. *