The government has been unable so far to get seminaries to incorporate subjects like English and Maths in their syllabi, as recommended in the recently introduced madrassa reforms. Daily Times has found that the administrations of the thousands of unauthorised seminaries operating in Pakistan have not responded to the government’s attempts to get them to expand the scope of their education. There are four prominent seminary systems in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the Jamia Fridia, Jamia Muhammadia, Taleem-ul-Quran and Jamia Farooqia, which have more than seven thousands students. However, none of them have introduced new syllabi. The government held several meetings with the Ittehad Tanzimat Madaris-Dina (ITMD), which represents the five Wafaqul Madaris, after 9/11 in an attempt to get it to modernise the seminary syllabus and to get the ITMD to register its institutions under the Madrassa Education Board. The government demanded the seminaries teach Pakistan Studies, English, Maths and General Science to primary school students, and English, Economics, Pakistan Studies and Computer Sciences, along with religious subjects, to higher level students. But the ITMD rejected the proposals. Ghazi Abdur Rashid, who runs a seminary in an upper class area in Islamabad, said the basic duty of the religious schools is to turn out religious scholars, and the current seminary syllabus fits that purpose.
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