Reforming education: K-P plans model madrassa

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa religious affairs ministry is finalising plans for the construction of a ‘model madrassa’ (seminary) in the Hayatabad neighbourhood of Peshawar.

The seminary is expected to cost the government Rs175 million and will initially be able to host 150 resident students on a 139 acre campus.

A final decision on the construction plan has not yet been taken.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa faces the brunt of an insurgency that many analysts believe is inspired by a perversion of religion that often originates in seminaries across the province.

By sponsoring a ‘model madrassa’ of its own, the government hopes to offer an alternative to those within Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who wish to pursue a religious education.

The government has been trying unsuccessfully for the last decade to regulate the more than 10,000 seminaries spread across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2011.