KARACHI, Jan 15: There are around 264,169 students, including 11,035 foreigners, enrolled in the 1,248 religious seminaries (Madaris) functioning across the province, which employ 7,738 teachers, a report compiled by the Sindh police department shows.

The report says that maximum number of seminaries- 869, are located in Karachi where 6,453 teachers are employed and 226,424 students, including 10,905 foreigners, are enrolled, while 141 seminaries with 533 teachers and 16,786 students, including 8 foreigners, exist in Hyderabad, 123 seminaries with 396 teachers and 12,469 students, including 122 foreigners are operating in Mirpur Khas, 66 seminaries with 248 teachers and 6,005 students are functioning in Sukkur and 49 seminaries with 108 teachers and 2,485 students are working in Larkana region.

According to the report, the sect-wise break up shows that 687 seminaries belong to Deobandi sect, of which 466 are in Karachi, 86 in Hyderabad, 71 in Mirpur Khas, 36 in Sukkur, and 28 in Larkana, while 487 belong to the Barelvi sect, of which 368 exist in Karachi, 45 in Hyderabad, 48 in Mirpur Khas, 20 in Sukkur and 6 in Larkana. 26 seminaries belong to the Ahl-e-Hadees sect, of which 24 are in Karachi and 2 in Hyderabad, and 48 seminaries belong to Ahl-e-Tashee school of thought, of which 11 are in Karachi, 8 in Hyderabad, 4 in Mirpur Khas, 10 in Sukkur and 15 in Larkana.

The district-wise break up shows that in Karachi East there are 183 seminaries with 1,740 teachers, 55,652 local and 5,293 foreign students, Out of these, 91 seminaries belong to the Deobandi sect, 86 to Barelvi, 5 to Ahl-e-Hadees, and one to Ahl-e-Tashee school of thought. In district West, 213 seminaries exist with 1,022 teachers, 35,433 local and 144 foreign students, and 118 seminaries belong to Deobandi, 91 to Barelvi and four to Ahl-e-Hadees school of thought. In South district, 893 teachers are employed and 32,258 local and 92 foreign students are enrolled in 179 seminaries, of which 87 belong to Deobandi sect, 81 to Barelvi and 11 to Ahl-e-Hadees school of thought. There are 170 seminaries in the Central district, of which, 83 are of Deobandi sect, 78 of Barelvi, 2 of Ahl-e-Hadees and 7 of Ahl-e-Tashee. 822 teachers are employed and 29,832 local and 1,838 foreign students are enrolled in these institutions. In Malir district 124 seminaries are functioning with 1,976 teachers, 62,344 local and 3,538 foreign students. 87 seminaries belong to Deobandi, 32 to Barelvi, 2 to Ahl-e-Hadees and 3 to Ahl-e-Tashee, the report says.

In Hyderabad district there are 71 seminaries, of which 53 belong to Deobandi sect, 12 to Barelvi, 2 to Ahl-e-Hadees, and 4 to Ahl-e-Tashee with 340 teachers, 10,822 local and 8 foreign students, it says.

In Dadu district there are 41 seminaries, of which 11 belong to Deobandi sect, 26 to Barelvi and 4 to Ahl-e-Tashee, with 93 teachers and 2,846 students.

The statistics of other districts are as under:

Badin: 21 seminaries- Deobandi, 14 and Barelvi, 7. Teachers: 50. Students: 2,020.