The document provides an overview of Pakistan's educational system, which includes both traditional religious schools and a modern system begun under British rule. The traditional system includes maktab schools attached to mosques for primary religious education, as well as higher levels like madrassas that provide education equivalent to secondary and post-secondary degrees. During the Soviet-Afghan war, madrassas expanded with foreign funding and trained Afghan and Pakistani students in a mix of religious and military teachings. The modern system began under British rule and continues today. However, traditional religious schools like madrassas saw a large expansion during the 1980s under President Zia-ul-Haq, as he sought to mobilize support by

1. Pakistan Educational
System—
over view
Presentation group 1.
Course title: Comparative Education.
Course instructor. Mam Misbah

2. The academic year schedule

The academic year extends roughly from April to
September/October and November to March, varying from province
to province. The weekly holiday was on Friday, the day of prayers
in the Muslim world and now is on Sunday.

3. Introduction
Basically, there are two systems of education prevalent in Pakistan: the
traditional religion-based education system and the modern formal
education system begun under British colonial rule and continued
after the country's independence.
Both systems are financed by the ministry of education. Since the late
1970s, with the increasing Islamization of Pakistan's polity and
society, the management of the traditional institutions has been
streamlined both at the provincial and the federal levels by the
mullahs. This was partly helped by the fact that the madrassas were
financed out of the zakat, the Islamic tithe collected by the
government.

4. The Traditional Schools
 Maktab schools


Above the primary level are the Maktab schools, attached to the
mosques, where children are initiated in religious instruction
emphasizing memorization of the verses in The Holy Quran.
Equivalent to elementary education

Those who complete elementary education are awarded
certificates depending on their proficiency in Nazira (Reading
of Holy Quran), Hifz (Memorization of Holy Quran), and
Tajweed-o-Qiraat (Techniques for the Recitation of Holy
Quran)..

5. The Traditional Schools
(conti..

Equivalent to Secondary education (Tahmani
certificate)

Those who complete the equivalent of secondary level education
are awarded the Tahmani certificate. The examination leading to it
includes Arabic language and literature, Islamic law and
jurisprudence, and translation of some chapters of the Quran.

The higher level of Islamic learning

The higher level of Islamic learning is imparted at the madrassahs,
whose graduates, called fazils, are qualified to be religious teachers
in secondary schools as well for teaching religious subjects in the
modern education system.

6. The Traditional Schools
(conti..

Education equivalent to Bachelor's degree
(Mauqoof Alaih)
They may be awarded Mauqoof Alaih, equivalent to a bachelor's
degree, for their advanced knowledge of Arabic language and
literature, history, logic, and the ability to translate passages from
the Quran.

7. The Traditional Schools
(conti..

Education equivalent of a master's degree (Daurai
Hadeeth)

Still more advanced education is given at Dav-ul-uluma, which are
university-level postgraduate institutions that award Daurai
Hadeeth—regarded as being the equivalent of a master's degree—
indicating the candidate's specialization in the meaning and
interpretation of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

8. Some important points of
traditional educational
system.

9. Traditional education & secular
subjects


At all levels of the traditional system of education,
secular subjects such as math and science, essential
for the functioning of modern societies, are not
taken seriously.
Until the 1980s enrollment in these schools was
limited because of the justified general perception
that such an education did not help future
employment prospects or pursuit of a profession..

10. Promotion of Madrassas during
President Zia-ul-Haq rule.

In the 1980s President Zia-ul-Haq promoted the
madrassahs, partly out of his personal conviction that
instruction in such schools would help the people to
behave as genuine followers of the Islamic faith and
partly because such institutions helped him to mobilize
support of the religious hierarchy and religion-based
political parties for his rule.

Their support was also valuable to him in the
recruitment of soldiers for the anti-Soviet war in
Afghanistan...

11. Promotion of Madrassas during
President Zia-ul-Haq rule.


The number of madrassas in the country grew
rapidly, financed by the United Arab Emirates,
Saudi Arabia, and Iran as well as by affluent
Pakistani industrialists and businessmen both at
home and abroad.
Part of the estimated $3.5 billion given by the
United States and Saudi Arabia to Pakistan for
assistance in the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan

12. Role of Pakistan during Soviet
war against Afghanistan

During the U.S.-supported war against the Soviet Union in
Afghanistan, Pakistan played a crucial role not only as a conduit
for U.S. arms to the Afghans but also in the military training
Pakistan provided to the Afghans. In the 128 camps established for
that purpose in Pakistan, mostly in the northwest, Zia's pro-Islamic
government evoked the defense of Islam against the atheistic
Soviets. Each camp had a large madrassas, where a heady mixture
of the teachings of Islam and militancy was provided to the youth
as the spirit of jihad. This led to the rise of the Taliban (literally,
student) movement in Afghanistan.
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13. Drastical change in the purpose
and content of Madrassas

In the 1990s the madrassas in Pakistan changed
drastically in their purpose and curriculum
content. The experience of training the Taliban
militants had influenced the clerics and teachers
in the madrassas, whose numbers touched 8,000
by the year 2000.

14. Drastically change in the
purpose and content of
Madrassas

Robin Wright wrote in December 2000, "Most of
the madrassas are a byproduct of a crumbling
state. More than a million youths are now enrolled
in madrassas because of Pakistan's deteriorating
education system and the growing appeal of
Islam."