An Enlightening USIP Report on Islamic Education in Pakistan

USIP REPORT: ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
C. Christine Fair
On March 21, 2006 Christine Fair spoke about her recent trip to Pakistan. Fair’s fieldwork was conducted with her Pakistan-based colleague Syed Rashad Bukhari and in collaboration with the National Bureau of Asian Research. Fair and Bukhari spent nearly three weeks visiting administrators at ten of the most prominent post-secondary madaris (singular madrassah) located in the cities of Lahore, Mardan, Peshawar, Multan and Karachi. They also interviewed senior faculty and personnel at the International Islamic University Islamabad as well as staff at primary Islamic schools and newly established alternative Islamic schools. The team also interviewed government officials and nongovernmental analysts.
Through these interviews and visits, Fair and Bukhari aimed to understand Islamic education in Pakistan and the ways in which this educational sector is responding to the various internal and external demands for reform. During her presentation, Fair provided the audience with an extensive background on madaris and their students. In the second part of her presentation, she discussed specific views expressed by the different stakeholders interviewed. She concluded with some preliminary implications for the governments of the United States and Pakistan.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Fair and Bukhari came to the following tentative conclusions:
• Earlier assertions about the pervasiveness of madaris appear to baseless in light of current and previous research.xxv Moreover, the most robust estimates of madaris market share suggest that less than 1 percent of all full-time enrolled students attend madaris.
• There is scant evidence that madaris contribute substantially to the recruitment of militants. This is probably because militant organizations have their own quality standards and, given their relatively small recruitment missions, they likely have other options. Similarly, most observers believe that only a very small number of madaris are involved in the actual training of militants.
• However, it is likely that madaris may contribute to conditions that are conducive to supporting terrorism and militancy. Madaris may likely contribute to Pakistan’s domestic security challenges and may indirectly pose challenges to regional security as well. In addition, there is evidence that density of madaris contribute to sectarian violence. This is probably due, at least in part, to the fact that each school teaches the superiority of its own tradition.
• The madrassah system as it is currently constituted, in the views of several interlocutors, is likely producing ullema that are irrelevant and ill-prepared to contribute to the needs of a modern Muslim state.
• Given that the vast majority of students attend public schools, it seems that disproportionate efforts have been expended focusing on the madaris. It does seem that greater attention should be given to public schools and possibly to encouraging greater access to private schools. Recall from Rehman’s study that private school students and teachers were more likely to support equal rights for Pakistan’s minorities and women and were more likely to support peaceful means of conflict resolution.
• More attention needs to be spent understanding the determinants of parental choice in educating their children. If GOP efforts do not adequately consider the demands of parents as well as the demands of the labor market and an evolving economy, the market will provide other options to parents.
• Finally, many Pakistanis believe that education reform in Pakistan is driven by external actors (e.g. the United States and Britain) and as such explicitly seek to de-Islamize education in Pakistan. This has contributed to a general dissatisfaction with the school system writ large and the desire to find other alternatives, which as noted, the market is providing. Not all of these options are expensive and poorer students can finance these alternatives through zakat (form of Islamic charity).

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