The government has launched a programme to modernize religious schools so that students get a basic education in such subjects as math, English and even computers.
Sardar Hussain Babak, education minister for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said the move was aimed at providing both students and teachers proper education. But leaders of religious schools see the programme as interference, and have turned down government support.
"Most of these teachers are unable to teach properly. They don’t have modern education. The government wants to support them financially and technically but they don’t want (that)," he told IPS.
Babak said the decision to modernize was made amid reports that some of these schools were the breeding ground of militants. The government wants to integrate religious education with formal education and bridge the gulf between the two systems. [IPS-Inter Press Service] Read more [via Jihad Watch]
