Madressah Reforms.

The government has announced that it has laid the groundwork for the establishment of a new directorate under the Federal Ministry of Education to regulate seminaries. This positive news is welcome; we have been hearing of the ever elusive madressah reforms for a while, with never a concrete decision taken by a sitting government over how this is going to be executed. Proposals were brought forth and later shelved due to opposition from religious parties and seminaries. For years we have been told that seminaries will be registered - this was also one of the salient points in the National Action Plan - their curriculum regulated and include contemporary education in a bid to provide madressah students to also find work beyond the seminary.

It is a wonder then that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government has actually managed to achieve this - according to the Education Minister, the recruitment for employees of this new directorate has been completed, the office is set up and beyond the federal capital, branches in 16 other cities have also been announced. A specific date has not been announced, but one can assume that the notification for this directorate will be sent out in this week.

The government should be commended for a move that has been perpetually 'in process' for years on end. Registration of seminaries and regulating their curriculum will go a long way in preventing hate speech and radicalisation, the provision of contemporary education will also prove to be a counter against both and it is high time religious education is made...