Seminaries to adopt federal board’s syllabus

Meeting agrees to devise curricula of seminaries as prescribed in NAP

ISLAMABAD: The umbrella body of seminaries from different schools of thought — Ittehad Tanzeemul Madaris — has agreed to adopt the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education’s (FBISE) syllabus at matriculation and intermediate levels.

State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman on Wednesday chaired a five-hour long meeting with scholars of different sects and officials of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and later it was agreed to devise curricula of seminaries as prescribed in the National Action Plan (NAP).



Representatives of five wafaqs or boards participated in the meeting. They include Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia (Deobandi), Tanzeemul Madaris Ahle Sunnat Pakistan (Barelvi), Wafaqul Madaris al Shia, Wafaqul Madaris al Salfia (Ahle Hadith) and Rabtatul Madarisul Islamia (Jamaat-i-Islami).

The participants unanimously agreed that for a master’s degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, the seminary students will have to appear in examinations of compulsory subjects — English, Islamiat and Pakistan Studies.

It was also decided that for masters in other subjects, seminary students will have to sit in exams of compulsory subjects along with two elective subjects of their choice.



Tanzeemul Madaris Ahle Sunnat Pakistan chief Mufti Muneebur Rehman as well as Jalandhari demanded that there should be separate boards for the five seminary boards like Agha Khan and Karakoram Boards in the private sector.

Until the establishment of the board, Tanzeemul Madaris would work under the existing system in which the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) will issue equivalence certificates for their degrees.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2016.