Pakistan Madrassa Education Board with an aim to modernise traditional religious seminaries
LAHORE:THE Pakistan Madrassa Education Board (PMEB), formed by former president Pervaiz Musharraf with an aim to modernise traditional religious seminaries and cast out extremism, is yet to produce results since its inception in 2001.
Over the years, only three Model Deeni Madaris (MDMs) could be established under the board where over 1,000 students are enrolled.
A longstanding issue regarding equivalence of certificates of MDM students has recently been resolved providing relief to students and their parents. Earlier, students of madrassas were in great trouble since certificates issued to them were not being entertained by other institutions.
The Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) has now accorded one-time waiver to former students of MDM who were earlier denied equivalence to formal education of matriculation and intermediate.
The equivalence was denied on the basis that examination of formal subjects either of matriculation or intermediate was not conducted by the Examination Boards or Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU). Instead, the International Islamic University (IIU) had conducted these exams.
An IBCC member seeking anonymity said the ordinance issued for establishment of the PMEB could not be implemented owing to which no progress was made over the years. He said the PMEB chairman had said during the IBCC’s recent meeting that Academic Council and Examination Branch of the Board were non-functional. He also said none of the existing five religious boards had nominated members for the PMEB owing to which the board did not have representation of all stakeholders.
PMEB Chairman Vakil Ahmed Khan told The News that the matter related to establishment of five Fiqqa based examinations boards had been taken up by the government with the Ittehad Tanzeemul Madaris-e-Dinia (ITMD). He said the MDMs established under the PMED had been affiliated with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE). He said certificates of formal education of MDM students would be issued by the FBISE while PMEB would issue the certificates of religious education. Answering a question, Vakil Ahmed Khan said in fact the board was yet to be established. “It is only on the papers,” he said adding “it was without staff”. To a question, he said the PMEB was yet to receive notification regarding equivalence from the IBCC.
He said only three MDMs were operating under the board adding one of these was at Islamabad with 620 students, one at Karachi with 180 students while around 253 students were enrolled at MDM Sukkur.
Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, the dean of the Faculty of Education at the Punjab University, who also has extensive research on religious education to his credit, is of the view that the government should win trust of religious schools. “This cannot be done by force or money,” he said. He said the government would have to take a holistic approach to address the issues related to achieving uniformity. He was also of the view that without a uniform system of education it was difficult to streamline affairs of religious schools.
