The NWFP governor Lieutenant General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (Retd) on Friday gave away cheques worth Rs 5 million to 36 religious seminaries of Fata to formally launch the introduction of formal education scheme in Denni Madaris. Fata took the lead, as it is for the first time throughout the country that as many as 36 Madaris have since got registration with the government as against the 112 applications received for registration in Fata alone.
In an impressive ceremony, held at Madrassa Naumani in Jamrud on Friday the governor distributed the cheques amongst the In-charge of Deeni Madaris. The ceremony was attended amongst others by the Fata senator Hamidullah Jan, MNA Maulana Noorul Haq Qadri, Secretary to Governor Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad, acting political agent Khyber Agency Zahirul Islam, Ulemas, officials and a large number of religious students of the Madrassa.
The governor while addressing on the occasion said that the government will distribute as much as Rs 60 million amongst Deeni Madaris of Fata enabling them to include modern education in their curriculums. He said that the scheme to be implemented in the entire country is being launched from Fata, saying that the government will provide both monitory as well as material help and assistance to all those religious seminaries that prefer to raise their standard of education.
He said that besides infrastructure facility these Madaris, he added would also be provided teachers, laboratory equipment and computers. The government has no dearth of resources for this purpose, the governor said and urged the Ulemas to take benefit of the opportunity and join the main national stream.
The governor said that the credit goes to President General Pervez Musharraf who for the first time in the history of the country offered every help and assistance to Deeni Madaris to bring them to the main national stream by giving them the opportunity to teach contemporary education along with the religious education.
This he said would enable the religious students to update them about the changing world and compete with other students in every field of life. Besides he added the passed out students of these madaris would also become enable to join any department and any sector even the armed forces rather than confining themselves only to Mosques and Madaris.
The governor said that he was of the firm opinion that there was no difference of religion or modernism in the education. Elaborating his point of view the governor referred to the verses from the holy Quran, which he said urges the faithful to explore the universe and un-earth the hidden realities. This he said would be impossible with out having excellence in the subjects like physics, chemistry, astronomy, algebra and mathematics.
The knowledge of modern education, he added would also enable the religious students to have better understanding of the religion.
The governor described all the apprehensions in this regard as baseless and emphatically said that the government has no concern with the curricula of religious seminaries as they are at liberty to teach what they deem fit but they should also include other contemporary subjects in their curricula to update their student with the changing world. He appreciated the services being rendered by Deeni Madaris in dissemination of education in the country saying that these seminaries are delivering all this with self-generated resources.
Earlier MNA Maulana Noorul Haq Qadri while thanking the governor for launching the scheme from Fata said that he has created a vast network of religious seminaries in Fata with more than 3000 students on roll and offered to initiate the modern education to implement the government policy in this regard.
He said the Ulemas have been wishing to bring their institutions to the mainstream but were unable because of the lack of resources. Now when the government has offered them incentives they would certainly take the benefits. He lauded the idea of President General Pervez Musharraf in this regard and the efforts of the governor NWFP for implementing it in Fata saying that a new era would emerge as a result of the government policy in this regard.