Pakistan - Educational System—overview

Presentation group 1.

Course title: Comparative Education.

Course instructor. Mam Misbah

The academic year schedule

The academic year extends roughly from April to September/October and November to March, varying from province to province. The weekly holiday was on Friday, the day of prayers in the Muslim world and now is on Sunday.

Introduction

Basically, there are two systems of education prevalent in Pakistan: the traditional religion-

based education system and the modern formal education system begun under British colonial rule and continued after the country's independence. Both systems are financed by the ministry of

education. Since the late 1970s, with the increasing Islamization of Pakistan's polity and

society, the management of the traditional institutions has been streamlined both at the

provincial and the federal levels by the mullahs. This was partly helped by the fact that the

madrassas were financed out of the zakat, the Islamic tithe collected by the government.

The Traditional Schools

Maktab schools Above the primary level are the Maktab schools, attached to the mosques, where children are initiated in religious instruction emphasizing memorization of the verses in The Holy Quran.

Equivalent to elementary education Those who complete elementary education are awarded certificates depending on their proficiency in Nazira (Reading of Holy Quran), Hifz (Memorization of Holy Quran), and Tajweed-o-Qiraat (Techniques for the Recitation of Holy Quran)..

The Traditional Schools (conti.. Equivalent to Secondary education (Tahmani

certificate) Those who complete the equivalent of secondary level

education are awarded the Tahmani certificate. The examination leading to it includes Arabic language and literature, Islamic law and jurisprudence, and translation of some chapters of the Quran.

The higher level of Islamic learning The higher level of Islamic learning is imparted at

the madrassahs, whose graduates, called fazils, are qualified to be religious teachers in secondary schools as well for teaching religious subjects in the modern education system.

The Traditional Schools (conti.. Education equivalent to Bachelor's degree

(Mauqoof Alaih)They may be awarded Mauqoof Alaih, equivalent to a

bachelor's degree, for their advanced knowledge of Arabic language and literature, history, logic, and the ability to translate passages from the Quran.

The Traditional Schools (conti.. Education equivalent of a master's degree (Daurai

Hadeeth) Still more advanced education is given at Dav-ul-

uluma, which are university-level postgraduate institutions that award Daurai Hadeeth—regarded as being the equivalent of a master's degree—indicating the candidate's specialization in the meaning and interpretation of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Some important points of traditional educational system.

Traditional education & secular subjects

At all levels of the traditional system of education, secular subjects such as math and science, essential for the functioning of modern societies, are not taken seriously.

Until the 1980s enrollment in these schools was limited because of the justified general perception that such an education did not help future employment prospects or pursuit of a profession..

Promotion of Madrassas during President Zia-ul-Haq rule.

In the 1980s President Zia-ul-Haq promoted the madrassahs, partly out of his personal conviction that instruction in such schools would help the people to behave as genuine followers of the Islamic faith and partly because such institutions helped him to mobilize support of the religious hierarchy and religion-based political parties for his rule.

Their support was also valuable to him in the recruitment of soldiers for the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan...

Promotion of Madrassas during President Zia-ul-Haq rule. The number of madrassas in the country grew

rapidly, financed by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran as well as by affluent Pakistani industrialists and businessmen both at home and abroad.

Part of the estimated $3.5 billion given by the United States and Saudi Arabia to Pakistan for assistance in the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan

Role of Pakistan during Soviet war against

Afghanistan During the U.S.-supported war against the Soviet Union in

Afghanistan, Pakistan played a crucial role not only as a conduit for U.S. arms to the Afghans but also in the military training Pakistan provided to the Afghans. In the 128 camps established for that purpose in Pakistan, mostly in the northwest, Zia's pro-Islamic government evoked the defense of Islam against the atheistic Soviets. Each camp had a large madrassas, where a heady mixture of the teachings of Islam and militancy was provided to the youth as the spirit of jihad. This led to the rise of the Taliban (literally, student) movement in Afghanistan.

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Drastical change in the purpose and content of Madrassas In the 1990s the madrassas in Pakistan changed

drastically in their purpose and curriculum content. The experience of training the Taliban militants had influenced the clerics and teachers in the madrassas, whose numbers touched 8,000 by the year 2000.

Drastically change in the purpose and content of Madrassas Robin Wright wrote in December 2000, "Most of

the madrassas are a byproduct of a crumbling state. More than a million youths are now enrolled in madrassas because of Pakistan's deteriorating education system and the growing appeal of Islam."