Madrasa System in Pakistan
Zahid Shahab Ahmed: Madarsa
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 2, No. 1: Autumn 2009
MADRASA EDUCATION IN THE PAKISTANI CONTEXT: CHALLENGES, REFORMS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Zahid Shahab Ahmed Abstract Educational institutions in Pakistan function under three separate systems— public, private and madrasas. The media and the government turned their attention towards the madrasas only after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as there was a growing perception that terrorism in the region is fueled by these madrasas. Although several studies have been undertaken to analyze the madrasa curriculum and its impact on the students, the role and attitudes of madrasa teachers, and the challenges they face, have largely been neglected. This paper is based on interviews and focused group discussions conducted with madrasa teachers in Pakistan to gauge what, in their view, is required to reform the system. It also provides some recommendations for directions that public policy could take in order to address religious radicalism.
Author Profile Zahid Shahab Ahmed, from Pakistan, is PhD scholar at the University of New England in Australia. He co-authored Attitudes of Teachers in India and Pakistan: Texts and Contexts (New Delhi: WISCOMP 2007). For the last five years, he has been actively engaged in conflict transformation projects at the regional level in South Asia. Correspondence: zahidupeace06@gmail.com.
Available from http://www.wiscomp.org/peaceprints.htm
1
Zahid Shahab Ahmed: Madarsa
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 2, No. 1: Autumn 2009
MADRASA EDUCATION IN THE PAKISTANI CONTEXT: CHALLENGES, REFORMS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Zahid Shahab Ahmed Introduction Traditionally, madrasas are Islamic learning institutions, aimed at building a generation of Islamic scholars and leaders. The word ‘madrasa’ means ‘center of learning’ in Arabic. They provide free religious education, boarding and lodging. For these
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 2, No. 1: Autumn 2009
MADRASA EDUCATION IN THE PAKISTANI CONTEXT: CHALLENGES, REFORMS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Zahid Shahab Ahmed Abstract Educational institutions in Pakistan function under three separate systems— public, private and madrasas. The media and the government turned their attention towards the madrasas only after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as there was a growing perception that terrorism in the region is fueled by these madrasas. Although several studies have been undertaken to analyze the madrasa curriculum and its impact on the students, the role and attitudes of madrasa teachers, and the challenges they face, have largely been neglected. This paper is based on interviews and focused group discussions conducted with madrasa teachers in Pakistan to gauge what, in their view, is required to reform the system. It also provides some recommendations for directions that public policy could take in order to address religious radicalism.
Author Profile Zahid Shahab Ahmed, from Pakistan, is PhD scholar at the University of New England in Australia. He co-authored Attitudes of Teachers in India and Pakistan: Texts and Contexts (New Delhi: WISCOMP 2007). For the last five years, he has been actively engaged in conflict transformation projects at the regional level in South Asia. Correspondence: zahidupeace06@gmail.com.
Available from http://www.wiscomp.org/peaceprints.htm
1
Zahid Shahab Ahmed: Madarsa
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 2, No. 1: Autumn 2009
MADRASA EDUCATION IN THE PAKISTANI CONTEXT: CHALLENGES, REFORMS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Zahid Shahab Ahmed Introduction Traditionally, madrasas are Islamic learning institutions, aimed at building a generation of Islamic scholars and leaders. The word ‘madrasa’ means ‘center of learning’ in Arabic. They provide free religious education, boarding and lodging. For these