12 October 2004	Tuesday	26 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: The Federal Ministry of Education has already released Rs495 million to the provincial education ministries for mainstreaming of Madressahs (seminaries).

This was stated by Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi during his meeting with Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Janis Bjorn Kanavin here on Monday, said an official statement.

The amount released by the government under its Madressahs reforms programme is part of a total package of Rs5.759 billion, the minister was quoted as saying. The minister told the envoy that all Wafaqul Madaris was very supportive of the government's efforts to mainstream seminaries.

He said the government owed much to the seminaries as they were the biggest non-governmental organization, providing free educational and boarding facilities to the students.

He maintained that 11,000 Madressahs would benefit from the scheme as the government intended to introduce modern subjects, like Pakistan Studies, General Science, Economics, Maths, English and Computers from primary to higher secondary level.

Mr Qazi said 32,000 teachers of Madressahs would be trained in their respective subjects. He maintained that there was no government pressure on seminaries for registration, but only the registered Madressahs would benefit from the scheme.

He said there was no ill-will behind the government's intention to mainstream Madressahs. The government, he said, was trying to provide equal opportunities to the seminaries students.

The minister said textbooks, sports facilities, high-tech computer labs, vehicles and the furniture would also be provided to the registered religious institutions for supplementing the government's efforts in nation building.

He said 120 teachers would be appointed at primary level in 30 Madressahs of Islamabad. Likewise, 40 teachers each would be appointed for English, Maths and Science, and English, Economics, Computers etc., at secondary and higher secondary levels, respectively.

The minister said Pakistan had never accepted donors' assistance and grants for the seminaries' mainstreaming project, rather the budgetary allocations for the project were very much indigenous and out of the national kitty.

He said not all Madressahs were breeding grounds for terrorists, adding that but there were very few such institutions which might be directly or indirectly involved in terrorism.

Mr Qazi said he would soon propose to the government to introduce technical education in religious institutions, which would help their students to get jobs in the country as well as abroad.

He said Madressahs mainstreaming project was aimed at stopping the supply of the "ready recruits for radicals", as the seminaries' students were easily hired by the terrorists out of their unemployment and other social factors.

The envoy appreciated the government's efforts in making education accessible to all, and assured the minister of his country's support in the education sector to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.