20 February 2005	Sunday	10 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, Feb 19: The NWFP government would provide Rs60 million funds and other facilities to madressahs in Fata for the provision of formal education to their students.

This was stated by NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah at a ceremony here on Friday to distribute cheques worth Rs5 million among 36 Fata madressahs to introduce formal education scheme.

These 36 madressahs were registered with the government out of 112 applications received for registration in Fata alone. The governor dispelled all apprehensions regarding changes in the curriculum of these institutions, saying that the government had no concern with their curricula.

These schools, which are imparting education with their own resources, were at a liberty to teach what they deem fit but they should include other contemporary subjects in their curricula to prepare their students for the challenges of the modern world, the governor said.

The ceremony was held at Madressah Naumani in Jamrud and was attended, among others, by senator from Fata Hamidullah Jan, MNA Maulana Noorul Haq Qadri, Secretary to Governor Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad, acting Political Agent Khyber Agency Zahirul Islam and teachers and students of madressahs.

The governor said the government would provide financial assistance to madressahs in Fata, enabling them to include modern subjects in their curricula. The formal education scheme, to be implemented in the entire country, had been initiated from Fata. The government would provide both monetary and material assistance to those religious institutions which agree to raise their standard of education.

He said that besides buildings, these institutions would also be provided teachers, laboratory equipments and computers. The government had no dearth of resources for the purpose, he said and urged ulema to take benefit of the opportunity.

Students who passed out of these institutions would be able to join any department and any sector, even the armed forces rather than confining themselves to mosques and madressahs, the governor added.

Madressah students should achieve excellence in subjects like physics, chemistry, astronomy, algebra and mathematics. Knowledge of modern education would also enable them to have a better understanding of the religion, he added.

Earlier, MNA Maulana Noorul Haq Qadri said that there was a vast network of religious institutions in Fata with more than 3,000 students on roll and the modern (formal) education would benefit a large number of them.

Meanwhile, Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain on Friday formally opened the Government Degree College for Boys at Jamrud in Khyber Agency. The governor had announced a month back to establish the college on the demand of the area people, an official handout said.

The college would be built at a cost of Rs25 million and would be completed by June 2006. The governor talking to elders on the occasion announced that college would start functioning from the next academic session.

He said the policy of scholarships for Fata students was also being revamped to make it merit-based. He said the establishment of a Fata education foundation with Rs100 million seed money would also help raise educational standard.

Mr Shah also showed concern on frequent road blockades to protest against load shedding in Khyber Agency and said the government would not succumb to such tactics, rather such practice would harm the interest of the people of the agency.