THE directive issued by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), making the teaching of the Holy Quran compulsory for undergraduate students across all public and private universities, extended more recently to graduate programmes, raises some serious questions that deserve honest public discussion. The desire to ground young people in their faith is understandable and in many contexts commendable. There is, and can be, simply no debate on this count.

At the school level, where religious education has long been part of the curri-culum, such a requirement sits naturally. However, universities are a different matter. Students arriving at that stage have already navigated years of schooling. Those pursuing MPhil or PhD degrees are by any measure adults who have committed themselves to years of rigorous academic work. To add a compulsory religious requirement at this stage is to treat scholars as if they are still completing a basic syllabus.

Other than the nitty-gritties, the broader question is about academic priorities. A doctoral researcher working on linguistics, engineering or medicine already carries a substantial credit burden.

Requiring them to demonstrate Quranic knowledge as a condition of their degree is a policy choice with real costs in time and institutional resources. If the goal is spiritual development, compulsion has rarely been its most effective instrument.

Name withheld on request
Turbat

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2026