THE ongoing controversy regarding the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024 is rather meaningless. There should be no doubt that seminaries must fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, and not Industries.

The basic rationale for the establishment of seminaries was to impart education to the most deprived sections of society who cannot afford the conventional stream in terms of tuition fee, books etc. This basic element seems to have been forgotten by the relevant stakeholders.

The controversy owes its origin to the passage of the bill by the two houses of parliament. The whole process was done in haste, and reflected poorly on those who allowed the bill to sail through parliament.

Seminaries are not part of some indu-stry aimed at providing cannon fodder to any political party or some foreign-funded adventure, like the sponsored war in Afghanistan. In the past, military and civilian rulers were party to such misadventures, which resulted in the promotion of extremism and sectarianism. The country and its people are still paying the price of such seriously disastrous decision-making.

On their part, seminaries should be imparting religious education along with necessary conventional education and skill-based training.

This will allow the children of the poor to stand on their feet once they leave the institution. It would be appropriate to expose seminary students to the world of vocational training. A relevant model could be the vocational training institutes (VTIs) in Punjab.

To begin with, the government must refocus and upgrade the existing system to meet the requirements of the industry as well as the demand for skilled labour in the Gulf and Middle East region.

Over time, the VTIs in Punjab have been neglected. They have become sort of a dumping ground for retired state employees. This trend has to stop.

Once seminary students graduate, they should have a certified skillset, enabling them to get employment, or be self-employed. All the stakeholders on both sides of the current controversy must rea-lise the significance of such an initiative.

Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2024