Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Ijaz ul Haq has said the government, in view of Madressah's role towards improving the literacy rate, is considering to give powers to Madressah Boards to issue matriculate certificates on the pattern of Aga Khan Board.
While talking to newsmen after book-launching ceremony here at Jinnah Hall on Monday, Ijaz said that over 1.5 million students are getting education from as many as 11,882 Madaris out of which about 3,775 are imparting high-level of education.
Out of Rs 27 billion being spent annually on lodging and boarding of students of these institutes, the government does not contribute even a single penny and all expenditures are met through private sources, he added. 'We can not deny the role of Madaris in the socio-economic development of the country', he maintained.
Talking about progress so far made with regard to registration of Madaris, the minister revealed that 7,775 Madaris have been registered. However, the last date for registration is fixed as December 31, 2005 but due to delay in amendments of provincial ordinance, the date could be extended accordingly, he added.
Ijaz further said that foreign countries are very conscious about Madressah and members from US Congress and other dignitaries from foreign countries are frequently visiting the Madressah to receive first hand information but they could not find any sign of terrorism or militancy in these institutions.
Instead, after having been inspired, they expressed full satisfaction and commended their role for the promotion of education sector, he added.
To a question, he said the Indian government like Pakistan is also taking care of Muslims worship places in India, while over 220 million Muslims living there, are also looking after the worship places. To another query, he denied existence of forward block within the PML. However, he said, if any member of the party has some reservations, he should approach the party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for redressal of his grievances.
To another question about US ambassador's statement regarding incident of 17th August, 1988 that claimed life of General Zia-ul-Haq, he said: "I met President General Pervez Musharraf soon after he took over the government control and discussed about investigation regarding the incident. General Musharraf had promised to look into all investigation reports. To investigate the incident, three commissions including one judicial commission was formed but no significant progress could be made in this direction. The government should have taken steps to probe the matter," he maintained.