Religious schools to get uniform curriculum

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said the government plans to introduce a uniform curriculum for all religious schools and seminaries in Pakistan. Chairing a meeting in Multan, his home town in southern part of Punjab province, the prime minister directed the Interior Minister to hold talks on the proposed reforms with the Wafaq Ul Madaaris Al Arabia, an umbrella organisation of religious institutions. Gilani told a delegation of Wafaq Ul Madaaris Al Arabia that Islam's message of peace, tolerance and brotherhood should be promoted. He said extremists were not sincere to both Islam and the country and that it was the duty of all religious institutions to discourage extremism and extend full cooperation to the government in its efforts to rid society of militancy. Gilani said the government was pursuing a three-D policy defence, dialogue and development to combat the menace of extremism and militancy. He added that it was also the responsibility of religious schools to support the campaign to eradicate extremism and terrorism. Gilani said that Madaaris should also impart information technology training and general education to students alongside religious teaching to enable them to earn a living after the completion of their studies. He said religious scholars should come forward to counter a wrong impression that many religious schools serve as breeding grounds for extremist behaviour. Qari Hanif Jalandhary, head of Wafaq Ul Madaaris Al Arabia, told the prime minister that 14,500 religious institutions were providing education in the country. He said Gilani himself belonged to a religious family and was therefore in a good position to understand the workings and problems of religious institutions. Jalandhary agreed that the whole education system needed to be streamlined. He suggested that new laws were required on Madaaris to bring these into the national mainstream and assured support to the government in its campaign against terrorism. From / Gulf News