Change needed in Pakistan’s religious schools, says army chief
Pakistan’s army chief has called for reforms in the country’s religious schools, known as madrassas, saying they need to modernize.
The rare comments on Thursday by General Qamar Javed Bajwa came amid concerns that madrassas are increasingly being used as a recruiting ground for terrorist groups in Pakistan.
Bajwa said madrassas had lost their function as a school for teaching religious principles, adding that there was a need to define clear educational standards in those schools.
“We need to look (at) and revisit the concept of madrassas ... We need to give them a worldly education,” he said, adding, “I am not against madrassas, but we have lost the essence of madrassas.”
Estimates suggest that Pakistan has registered around 2,000 madrassas while thousands more have mushroomed across the country without receiving government authorization. There has been evidence that some of these schools have trained recruits for groups that are normally engaged in terrorist activities in Pakistan and neighboring countries.
Some madrassas have been shut down recently over intelligence reports that their students had been involved in terrorist attacks. However, authorities have avoided a large-scale crackdown, fearing a backlash among the public.
Bajwa, who was speaking to a youth conference in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, acknowledged that some students learn how to become a terrorist during their courses in madrassas.
The top military commander said reforms in the madrassas were an urgent need for Pakistan, adding that the country of 207 million people was being held back because of such poor education.
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