The educational system in need of massive reforms: Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri

Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Deputy Chairman, MUL Board of Governors and president of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, has said that there is a need for massive reforms in the educational sector. He said multiple systems and institutions offering different facilities and criteria are a major hindrance in the way of the unity of the nation. He said unless the state of Pakistan gives uniform educational curriculum and facilities to every child, the exploitative and discriminatory attitudes will continue to remain the part of our society and the nation will keep suffering inequality and contradictions. He said that the provision of similar facilities to every citizen irrespective of caste, creed, and colour is not only a constitutional responsibility of the state but also a human requirement. He said the dignified and developed nations that we see in the world today got these successes through a uniform system of education.

Shining light on the class-based nature of the educational system, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that three kinds of educational institutions are imparting education in the country today. The first category consists of public educational institutions that also include the private sector; secondly the English medium schools; whereas the third stream is that of religious seminaries. He said that the term 'two Pakistans' has gained the currency due to this conflicting system of education. He said the country is predominantly divided into two classes; the English-speaking privileged section of society and secondly the one that got their education from the local, routine education stream. He said this dual system of education has led to the emergence of racism; a deep divide between the rich and the poor in addition to undermining the foundations of our nation.

Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri demanded the immediate enforcement of a uniform system of education across the country and asked the state to take up the responsibility of the provision of education to every child in the country. He suggested that religious seminaries should be mainstreamed and modern subjects should also be taught there along with Islamic sciences so that their graduates do not remain confined to the Mosques but play their full role in the national development.

Dr Hussain said that the educational institutions under MQI particularly COSIS are offering education in both the religious and contemporary sciences together. He further said that the literacy rate was 11% at the time of the establishment of Pakistan, adding that had it been rising by 1% every year, it should have been 84% today instead of the current 60%. He said Sri Lanka is the only country that has topped the South Asian region with a 98% literacy rate despite not having an abundance of resources.