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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Govt registers 80% of religious seminaries |
| 2004-12-29 |
| ISLAMABAD: Ejaz-ul-Haq, the religious affairs minister, said on Tuesday that the government had registered nearly 80 percent of religious seminaries across the country. Speaking on PTV, he said the seminaries were providing free education, boarding and meal facilities to around 1 million students, without government support. The minister said the seminaries were also providing students with modern as well as religious education. He said the government wanted to place all seminaries in the mainstream education system, adding they would be provided with full support. At a recent meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, the boards of all five Wafaq-ul-Madaris had helped remove negative perceptions of religious schools, he added. The minister said the perception that seminaries were producing religious extremists was incorrect. He said visits by foreign delegations to various seminaries had reinforced the government's belief that they were not providing extremist education to students. |
| Posted by:Fred |