It was a rare occasion that clerics from all school of thoughts found a point of agreement, with a majority of them calling for a homogenous education system. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
With a call for politicians to make education their top priority, over 40 religious scholars from across Pakistan huddled on Wednesday and cited education as the only cause for the rise and fall of the Muslim Ummah in the past and present.
Alif Ailaan, a campaign to end Pakistan’s education emergency, and the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) held a roundtable meeting on the “Crisis of Education in Pakistan: Responsibility of Clerics” with prominent religious scholars from all schools of thought.
The moot was important at a time when all political parties are campaigning for the upcoming general elections. Ruet-e-Hilal Committee President Mufti Muneebur Rehman was of the view that education should be the foremost priority of the next government as the country is facing an education emergency and this state of affairs cannot be improved without political will.
It was a rare occasion that clerics from all school of thoughts found a point of agreement, with a majority of them calling for a homogenous education system. “There are at least five schools of religious thought and several education systems being run in Pakistan. Now we should chalk out the commonalities from all of them and come up with a standardised education system,” said K-P Cleric Dr Maulana Rohullah Madani. He suggested that till intermediate level, all schools and madrassas should have the same curriculum, with English, Urdu and Maths as compulsory subjects.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2013.
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Yes education helps and if its in English it helps more .I dont know why people are against English . After all the subcontinent has been speaking English for more than 400 years. Why are we so averse to this language. It opens up horizons / broadens up boundaries / increases understanding/ encourages social intercourse and what not .
What no comment, this is ONE of the MOST Important meet-ups ever. Education, education, education. It takes a village to educate a child. It really does and NOT the three-cups of tea one which was a total fraud. This is a deep crisis as Pakistan will fail miserably especially for the poor classes if they don't have the basic skills for survival and to somehow change their lot. If there is no awareness, no change can happen. The powers need to stop once and awhile and forget about mindless self-interest and materialism and think beyond themselves. If you really practice your religion with your soul in awareness, you would educate those who need to be educated without thinking what you will get in return but the education needs to be QUALITY Education too.