Over the past decade, the US has channeled $11 billion in aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan, with virtually all of it going to the military. Many observers are skeptical, but there is a feeling that without Pakistan’s help, the situation cannot improve in Afghanistan. And there is a need to support democratic development in Pakistan as a way to fight extremism. The education system, as the basis of all societies, needs more care.

Free Islamic education provided by “madrasas” in Pakistan has come under scrutiny in the wake of September 11, 2001. Madrasas have been charged of sowing the seeds of sectarianism and violence in the minds of young people. There were a plethora of analyses and reports and comments in the media and the Think Tanks, with varied levels of objectivity and biases. Madrasas were often linked to Islamic extremism. Even the International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a report (July 2002) distinguishing five types of madrasas, all of them divided “along sectarian and political lines.” 

Yet, ICG’s report acknowledged that “violence in the name of religion neither originated at madrasas nor is their defining characteristic.” And it went on to say that madrasas associated with “sectarian and international terrorism are easily recognisable and must not be confused with those that are normal part of Pakistani life.” Nevertheless, both types have been judged by ICG’s report posing “different degrees of threats to Pakistan’s stability and international security.”

At the time, the idea of more or less solid connections between some madrasas and violent radical Islamists was pretty much dominating and  many people in the Bush administration likely thought that the Pakistani government was turning a blind eye on these connections.

The US pressured Pakistan to reform its free Islamic education system, which included about 10,000 madrasas, with as many as 1.7 million students, according to some estimations. Today, the figures may have changed.

The report issued in June 2010 by the Brookings institution titled “Beyond Madrasas: Assessing the Links Between Education and Militancy in Pakistan,” is the last American appraisal from a leading Think Tank that introduces more ponderation about this issue. Indeed, it represents also a different view from those prevailing and especially from the position contained in the “9/11 Commission Report.”

To make this point clear, let’s briefly recall the statement of the latter:

“Millions of families, especially those with little money, send their children to religious schools, or madrassahs. Many of these schools are the only opportunity available for an education, but some have been used as incubators for violent extremism.”

Although as we said, many observers have stressed  the connection between the Pakistani madrasas and radicalism, the new Brookings’ report says: “this madrasas’ story, though prevalent, is only partially accurate.” After a systematic review of available data on this topic, the authors deduce that “madrasas are not the main problem,” for only “a small number of militant madrasas directly contribute to militancy and are a serious security concern.” As in politics, there are hardliners and moderate, sectarian and humanist views, and both exist, but the former are in smaller number.

Besides, based on the data of their investigation, the authors did not observe large numbers of Pakistani parents sending their children to madrasas, nor did they observe a large share of Pakistani children being radicalised as a result of attending religious seminaries. Hence their conclusion: “the argument that madrasas are primarily responsible for the rise in militancy does not hold.” And though they acknowledge the existence of a small number of “indoctrinating” madrasas, supportive of violence, they state that “these schools are too few to have a major impact on militancy across the country.” Anyway, these religious schools are not as prominent in the educational system as they were thought to be.

So, what’s the fuss about?

I think that everywhere education reform is necessary, because it continuously needs to be adapted to the changes in the social arena and on the international stage. Pakistan is for this issue similar to any other country, included the Western.

In Pakistan, the public school system has deteriorated over the last decades. Some people believe that the deterioration is helped by the tendency to cede the task of educating Pakistani youth to the system of Islamic religious schools. (Madrasas, that is). They argue that these schools were originally intended to train Muslim clerics, not the wider population. Since they also provide welfare services to the poor students, they gain popularity and influence, thus replacing the State.

But it is important to know that the Madrasas are nongovernmental religious schools. And although the State is in charge for any reform of the educational system, it is worth noting that the way the Madrasas should be run and the programmes they should teach, are understandably considered an internal matter.

The same people who criticise this system know that shutting down the Madrasas “will likely provoke a violent backlash, while any alternative schools that the United States directly supports will potentially be seen as infused with American values.”

So where is the midline?

For the authors of the Brookings’ report who observe an increase in the number of the Pakistani families that turn to private schools, it is clear that “neither the public schools nor Pakistan’s madrasas have delivered the caliber of education that parents are looking for and expect.” Anyway, the number of public schools exeeds the Madrasas. That’s why they think that although the system still contains a link between the education level and the conflict, increasing access to education will likely help to mitigate violence.

This is certainly a well-pondered view of the Pakistani education system. And while there is no receipt for reform imposed from the outside that wouldn’t look in the eyes of the local people like a receipt for disaster, the changes on this crucial level (education), if they are rationally conduced and funded, will certainly sow  the seeds that will shape the future of more a democratic and peaceful Pakistan.