DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS

A Survey of the Education System

of

Pakistan

By

Tariq Rahman

NATIONAL DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR

Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad

Paakistan

ABSTRACT

DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS: A Survey of the Education System of Pakistan

The article gives a survey of the major types of schools in Pakistan. These are the Urdu-medium schools, the elitist English-medium schools (both private ones and cadet colleges) and the Islamic seminaries (madrassas). They are divided not only according to the medium of instruction and the curricula but also on the basis of socio-economic class. The English-medium schools cater for the middle, upper-middle and upper classes; the Urdu-medium ones to the lower-middle and working classes; and the madrassa to very poor, marginalized or very religious people. The expenditure by the society and the state on these institutions perpetuates this class division. What is potentially alarming is that the world view of the students of these institutions, especially that of the madrassa and the private English-medium ones, is so polarized on issues of militancy (regarding Kashmir) and tolerance (of religious minorities and women), that they seem to inhabit different, and violently opposed, worlds. This may be a source of social instability, internal conflict and violence in Pakistan in the future.

DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS: A Survey of the Education System

of Pakistan

1. Introduction

While there are several books on education,[1] they defend present policies, talk of the necessity of nation-building and focus on public-funded schooling (i.e. vernacular-medium schools). They do not describe cadet colleges, private elitist English-medium schools and madrassas (Islamic seminaries) except in passing. Indeed, while government reports do give some space to the madrassas and cadet colleges, writers on education go on treating them as exceptions and therefore not deserving detailed treatment. Indeed, the collection of articles on education edited by Pervez Hoodbhoy on the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of Pakistan, Education and the State, is exceptional in that it describes schools run by Non-Governmental Organizations[2], Community-based Organizations[3], and the madrassas[4]. But even this book does not touch upon the elitist English-medium schools either of the private type or cadet colleges. This has, however, been done with reference to language-teaching and world view in the present author’s previous book Language, Ideology and Power[5].

What is really alarming, and relatively less known, is the fact that the students of these institutions (the vernacular-medium schools, English-medium schools and madrassas) have such different opinions as to live in different worlds. To understand these different institutions and their products is to understand how dangerously polarized Pakistani society is and how this has hampered national cohesion and a sense of commitment to unified policies.

2. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this article is to describe the three major streams of education— madrassas, English-medium and Urdu-medium—with a view to determining how they function and what kind of opinions or world view, their students express.

3. METHODOLOGY

The historical part of the report relies upon documents on education policy and published sources. The condition of educational institutions at present relies both on published and unpublished sources such as school budget statements, interviews of teachers and administrators and so on. The most interesting part of the article is about the views of 618 students and 243 teachers about sensitive and controversial issues such as Kashmir, the rights of minorities and those of women etc. These have been carried out between December 2002 to June 2003 in Urdu -medium schools, private elitist English-medium schools, cadet colleges and Sunni madrassas.

4. Educational Policies in Pakistan

Beginning with the National Education Conference of 1947 there have been at least twenty-two major reports on education issued by the government from time to time. Among the most salient ones are: Report of the Commission on National Education[6] ; The New Education Policy[7]; The Education Policy (1972-1980)[8]; National Education Policy[9] and the National Education Policy: 1998-2010[10]. These reports have been summed up very ably by Kaiser Bengali who tells us that ‘setting targets, bemoaning the failure to achieve the same, and setting new targets with unqualified optimism has been a continuing game policy makers have played ad nauseam and at great public expense over the last 50 years[11].

These educational reports touch upon all kinds of educational institutions but they focus more on modern education provided in the government schools, colleges and universities. For the madrassas, however, the government commissioned separate reports of which the best known are: The report of the National Committee on the Religious Seminaries[12]; and the comprehensive report on the madrassas[13].

All educational policy documents emphasize the ideological role of education. Nation-building is to be encouraged by suppressing ethnicity and this is to be achieved byignoring the multi-lingual and multi-cultural aspects of Pakistani society. Islam is to be used as a unifying factor both against ethnicity and against India which is the permanent “Other”. The security paradigm is of paramount importance because of which the military and wars are glorified and sanctified in the name of Islam and nationalism.

5. Urdu-medium Schools

The number of all government schools is given as follows in the Economic Survey of Pakistan (2003)

Box-1
Level	Number	Student Strength	Teachers
Primary	170,000	20,000,000	335,100
Middle	19,100	3,988,000	101,200
Secondary	12,900	1,704,000	165,000
Source : The figures for primary education are on p. 159.[14]

These numbers include Sindhi-medium government schools also. The number of these, however, was 36,750 in 1998. The Pashto-medium primary schools were 10,731 in 1999 (field research). Thus, most of these schools are Urdu-medium ones.

These students and teachers both come from the lower-middle class. In a small survey of 230 students and 100 teachers of Urdu-medium schools undertaken in December 2002 and January 2003, it was discovered that they belonged to low income groups. They were reluctant to reveal their families’ income because of the social stigma of poverty so that 95 (41.30 per cent) did not write their father’s income. As for mothers, most of them did not have paid employment. Those who are employed, are in the lower middle class income group, i.e. between Rs. 5001 to 10,000 per month i.e. are 26.66 per cent. Very few families are in higher income brackets (see Annexure-1 for details).

Most teachers (65.96%) have an income of between Rs. 5001 to 10,000 per month i.e. they belong to the lower middle class. Those few families (only 18) where both spouses work have a higher income going into the upper middle class bracket. i.e between 20,001 to 50,000 (see Annexure-1 for details).

Schools are not accessible to all children and even where they do exist, attending them daily requires considerable time, energy and money. According to the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (2002) most children travel less than 2 kms but some travel more than 5 kms to their schools. However, girls do have to travel long distances in Balochistan and Sindh which is difficult and unsafe for them.[15]^.

Students are taught through rote learning and given corporal punishment for mistakes. Analysis is not encouraged at any level. Moreover, the schools are very sparsely furnished with no heating in the winter. Some schools in the cities do have fans but none are air-conditioned. Students sit on hard benches and memorize lessons by singing them in a chorus.

5.1 Influences of Textbooks on Urdu-medium School Students

Most of the 25,692,000 students[16], being from Urdu-medium schools, study the textbooks provided by the Textbook Boards of the provinces (Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan) which constitute Pakistan. Ethnicity is denied so as to create a Pakistani identity although these centrist policies have been resented by ethnic communities and have resulted in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 but still the textbooks reinforce them.[17] There is also much glorification of war and the military and many anti-Hindu and anti-India remarks and together bias interspersed throughout the books[18].

5.2 Funding of Urdu Schools

The average expenditure per pupil per year in ordinary Urdu-medium government schools can be judged by looking at the schools of the Rawalpindi district in 2003.

Box-2 Cost Per Pupil Per Year in Urdu-medium Government Schools in 2003 (Rawalpindi District)
	Male	Female	Total
Schools	1,191	1,213	2,404
Enrollment	389,259	170,696	559,955
Teachers	7,236	6,073	13,309
Teachers/student ratio	54 students per teacher	28 per teacher	42 per teacher
Budget			Rs. 1268 million
Cost per pupil per year	-	-	Rs. 2,264.5
Cost to the state (per pupil per year)	-	-	Rs. 2,264.5
Source: Office of the District Executive Officer (Education), Rawalpindi.

Just as the poorest children have the lowest enrolment in schools, they also tend to drop out more than others. Thus 53 per cent of the poorest quintile dropped out before completing class 6 compared with only 23 per cent of the richest quintile. (For the quintiles see Annexure-1)[19]. Parents explain this as lack of motivation as do teachers. This shifts the burden of failure on to the pupil. However, if one considers the extremely harsh conditions at home and the cruel treatment children receive at school, one wonders why more do not drop out.

5.3 Other Influences on Urdu-medium Students

Urdu-medium students, being from the upper-working and lower-middle class backgrounds, are less exposed to Western discourses available on cable T.V, English books and in the conversation of peer group members, family and friends who have been abroad. According to the survey of 230 students and 100 teachers of Urdu-medium schools most do not support militant policies. However, more support an open war with India than low intensity conflict in Kashmir (Annexure-2). They are quite intolerant of religious minorities but do approve of men and women having equal rights as in Western countries (see Annexure-2).

6. Madrassas

The madrassas are associated with the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan some of whom were students of these institutions. They have also been much in the news for sectarian killings and supporting militancy in Kashmir. They are considered the breeding ground of the Jihadi culture—a term used for Islamic militancy in the English-language press of Pakistan[20]. In India too they have been attacked by the Hindu extremists who accuse them of creating hatred against non-Muslims[21]. However, the historical development of the madrassas has not received the attention which it deserves though promising studies have recently been published.[22]

There is hardly any credible information on the unregistered madrassas. However, those which are registered are controlled by their own central organizations or boards. They determine the syllabi, collect a registration fees and an examination fees. They send examination papers, in Urdu and Arabic, to the madrassas where pupils sit for examinations and declare results. The names of the boards are as follows:

Box-3
Central Boards of Madrassas in Pakistan
Name	Sub-sect	Place	Date Established
Wafaq ul Madaris	Deobandi	Multan	1958
Tanzim ul Madaris	Barelvi	Lahore	1960
Wafaq ul Madaris (Shia) Pakistan	Shia	Lahore	1962
Rabta-tul-Madaris-al-Islamia	Jamat-i-Islami	Lahore	1986 (unified syllabus adopted).
Wafq-ul-Madaris-al-Salafia	Ahl-i-Hadith	Faislabad	1978
Source: Offices of the respective Boards.

At independence there were 137, or even fewer, madrassas. In April 2002, Dr. Mahmood Ahmed Ghazi, the Minister of Religious Affairs, put the figure at 10,000 with 1.7 million students[23]. They belong to the major sects of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shias. However, Pakistan being a predominantly Sunni country, the Shia ones are very few. Among the Sunni ones there are three sub-sects: Deobandis, Barelvis and the Ahl-i-Hadith (salafi). Besides these, the revivalist Jamat-i-Islami also has its own madrassas.

The number of madrassas has been increasing during General Zia ul Haq’s rule (1977-1988). During the war by Islamic Afghan groups in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union the United States sent in money, arms and ammunition through Pakistan which is said to have been used to support the madrassas. Later, presumably because religiously inspired and madrassa students infiltrated across the line of control to fight the Indian army in Kashmir, they were supported by the Pakistan army (specifically the Inter Services Intelligence agency). However, both the ISI and the madrassas deny these links and therefore, it cannot be ascertained as to how many madrassas have increased by the financial aid provided by foreign donors or the Pakistan army. The increase in the number of registered madrassas is phenomenal from 2002 in 1988 to 9880 in 2002. The Deobandi madrassas, the ones most closely allied to the Taliban, have gone up from 1779 to over 7000.

6.1 The Curriculum of the Madrassas

Before Mulla Nizam Uddin (d. 1748) standardized the curriculum known as the Dars-i-Nizami different teachers taught different books to students.

In Pakistan, however, the Dars-i-Nizami has been modified though the canonical texts are still there. In my view these texts are used as a symbol of continuity and identity. The madrassas saw themselves as preservers of Islamic identity and heritage during the colonial era when secular studies displaced the Islamic texts as well as the classical languages of the Indian Muslims—Arabic and Persian—from their privileged pedestal. Thus the madrassas, despite the desire to reform their courses, do not give up the canonical texts[24].

The greatest critic of the madrassa texts was Maulana Maududi who argued that, being based on memorization of medieval texts, the madrassas were not providing relevant education to the Muslim society[25].

However, though old books like Sarf-e-Meer and Kafiya remain in the course, easier and more modern books are used to supplement them. Arabic, for instance, is taught through modern and much easier books than the canonical works mentioned in the Dars-i-Nizami[26]. The canonical texts are taught in Arabic but, because students do not become really competent in the language, they are either memorized or understood from Urdu translations available in the market.

The Dars-i-Nizami has come to symbolize the stagnation and ossification of knowledge. It is taught through canonical texts which, however, are taught through commentaries (sharh); glosses or marginal notes (hashiya) and supercommentaries (taqarir). There are commentaries upon commentaries explained by even more commentaries. For the South Asian students, they no longer explain the original text being themselves in Arabic. It was this backward-looking nature of core madrassa texts which made Taha Hussain (1889--1973), the famous blind modernist scholar of Egypt, disillusioned with Jamia Azhar in Cairo[27].

What was true of Jamia Azhar in 1902 (when Taha went to that seat of learning) is judged to be true of South Asian madrassas, or at least the Dars-i-Nizami component taught there, even now—and the judges are Arabic-knowing authorities such as Maududi and not only Western critics of the madrassas.

6.2 The Refutation of Other Sects and Sub-sects

Refutation (Radd in Urdu) has always been part of religious education. However, it is only in recent years that it has been blamed for the unprecedented increase in sectarian violence in Pakistan. The madrassas do, indeed, teach their maslak (interpretation of religion) which is obviously sectarian or sub-sectarian. However, this has been going on for a long time.

Barbara Metcalf describes the munazras (theological debates) between the Christians, Muslims and Arya Samajists in her book[28]. These were also very bitter as the Deobandi-Barelvi munazras of 1928 collected in Futoohat-e-Nomania illustrate.[29]Moreover, the pioneers of the sects and sub-sects did indulge in refuting each other’s beliefs.[30]

As the inculcation of sectarian bias is an offence, no madrassa teacher or administrator confessed to teaching any text refuting the beliefs of other sects. Maulana Mohammad Hussain, Nazim-i-Madrassa Jamiat us-Salfia (Ahl-i-Hadith) (Islamabad) said that comparative religions was taught in the final Almiya (M.A) class and it did contain material refuting heretical beliefs. Moreover, Islam was confirmed as the only true religion, refuting other religions. The library did contain books refuting other sects and sub-sects but they were not prescribed in the syllabus. Maulana Muhammad Iqbal Zafar of the Jamia Rizvia Zia ul Uloom (Barelvi) in Rawalpindi said that books against other sects were not taught. However, during the interpretation of texts the maslak was passed on to the student. Students of the final year, when questioned specifically about the teaching of the maslak, said that it was taught through questions and answers, interpretation of texts and sometimes some teachers recommended supplementary reading material specifically for the refutation of the doctrines of other sects and sub-sects.[31]

In some cases, as in the Jamia Ashrafia, a famous Deobandi seminary of Lahore, an institution for publication, established in 1993, publishes ‘only those articles and journals which are written by the scholars of Deoband school of thought.[32]. Moreover, in writings, sermons, and conversation, the teachers refer to the pioneers of their own maslak so that the views of the sub-sect are internalized and became the primary way of thinking.

However, despite all denials, the printed syllabi of the following sects do have books to refute the beliefs of other sects. The Report on the Religious Seminaries [33] lists several books of Deobandi madrassas to refute Shia beliefs including Maulana Mohammad Qasim’s Hadiyat ul Shia which has been reprinted several times and is still in print. There are also several books on the debates between the Barelvis and the Deobandis and even a book refuting Maudoodi’s views. The Barelvis have given only one book Rashidiya under the heading of ‘preparation for debates on controversial issues’[34].

Recently published courses list no book on maslak for the Deobandis. The Barelvis mention ‘comparative religions’ but no specific books. The Ahl-i-Hadith retain almost the same optional courses as before. The Shia madrassas list books on beliefs which includes comparative religions in which, of course, Shia beliefs are taught as the only true ones. Polemical pamphlets claiming that there are conspiracies against the Shias are available. Incidentally such pamphlets, warning about alleged Shia deviations from the correct interpretations of the faith are also in circulation among Sunni madrassas and religious organizations.

The Jamat-i-Islami syllabus (2002) mentions additional books by Maulana Maudoodi and other intellectuals of the Jamat on a number of subjects including the Hadith. They also teach ‘comparative religions’.

6.3 The Refutation of Heretical Beliefs

One of the aims of the madrassas, ever since 1057 when Nizam ul Mulk established the famous madrassa at Baghdad, was to counter heresies within the Islamic world and outside influences which could change or dilute Islam. Other religions are refuted in ‘comparative religions’ but there are specific books for heresies within the Islamic world. In Pakistan the ulema unite in refuting the beliefs of the Ahmedis (or Qaidianis)[35]. The Deoband course for the Aliya (B.A) degree included five books refuting Ahmedi beliefs[36]. The Barelvis prescribe no specific books. However, the fatawa of the pioneer, Ahmad Raza Khan, are referred to and they refute the ideas of the other sects and sub-sects[37]. The Ahl-i-Hadith note that in ‘comparative religions’ they would refute the Ahmedi beliefs. The Shias too do not prescribe any specific books. The Jamat-i-Islami’s syllabus (2002) prescribes four books for the refutation of ‘Qaidiani religion’. Besides the Ahmedis, other beliefs deemed to be heretical are also refuted. All these books are written in a polemical style and are in Urdu which all madrassa students understand.

6.4 The Refutation of Alien Philosophies

The earliest madrassas refuted Greek philosophy which was seen as an intellectual invasion of the Muslim ideological space. Since the rise of the West, madrassas, and even more than them revivalist movements outside the madrassas, refute Western philosophies. Thus there are books given in the reading lists for Aliya (B.A) of 1988 by the Deobandis refuting capitalism, socialism, capitalism and feudalism. These books are no longer listed but they are in print and in the libraries of the madrassas. The Jamat-i-Islami probably goes to great lengths—judging from its 2002 syllabus—to make the students aware of Western domination, the exploitative potential of Western political and economic ideas and the disruptive influence of Western liberty and individualism on Muslim societies.

These texts, which may be called Radd-texts, may not be formally taught in most of the madrassas as the ulema claim, but they are being printed which means they are in circulation. As such, without formally being given the centrality which the Dars-i-Nizami has, the opinions these texts disseminate—opinions against other sects, sub-sects, views seen as being heretical by the ulema, Western ideas—may be the major formative influence on the minds of Madrassa students. Thus, while it is true that education in the madrassa produces religious, sectarian, sub-sectarian and anti-Western bias, it may not be true to assume that this bias automatically translates into militancy and violence of the type Pakistan has experienced. For that to happen other factors—the arming of religious young men to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir; the state’s clampdown on free expression of political dissent during Zia ul Haq’s martial law; the appalling poverty of rural, peripheral areas and urban slums etc.—must be taken into account.

As for teaching modern subjects, the Ahl-i-Hadith madrassas have been teaching Pakistan studies, English, mathematics and general science for a long time[38]. The Jamat-i-Islami also teacher secular subjects. The larger Deobandi, Barelvi and Shia madrassas too have made arrangements for teaching secular subjects including basic computer skills. However, the teaching is done by teachers approved of by the ulema or some of the ulema themselves. Thus the potential for secularization of these subjects, which is small in any case, is reduced to naught.

6.5 Poverty and Socio-economic Class

Madrassas were supported by land grants and wealthy patrons in medieval India.

Madrassas in Pakistan are also financed by voluntary charity provided by the bazaar businessmen and others who believe that they are earning great merit by contributing to them. Some of them are also given financial assistance by foreign governments—the Saudi government is said to help the Ahl-i-Hadith seminaries and the Iranian government the Shia ones—but there is no proof of this assistance. And even if it does exist, it goes only to a few madrassas whereas the vast majority of them are run on charity (zakat = alms, khairat = charity, atiat = gifts etc).

According to the Jamia Salfia of Faisalabad, the annual expenditure on the seminary, which has about 700 students, is 40,00,000 rupees. Another madrassa, this time a Barelvi one, gave roughly the same figure for the same number of students. This comes to Rs 5,714 per year (or Rs 476 per month) which is an incredibly small amount of money for education, books, boarding and lodging. As the madrassas generally do not charge a tuition fees—though they do charge a small admission fees which does not exceed Rs 400—they attract very poor students who would not receive any education otherwise.

According to Singer, the ‘Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania, one of the most popular and influential Madrassahs (it includes most of the Afghani Taliban leadership among its alumni)—has a student body of 1500 boarding students and 1000 day students, from 6 years old upwards. Each year over 15,000 applicants from poor families vie for its 400 open spaces’ [39]. According to a survey conducted by Mumtaz Ahmad in 1976 ‘more than 80 percent of the madrassa students in Peshawar, Multan, and Gujranwala were found to be sons of small or landless peasants, rural artisans, or village imams of the mosques. The remaining 20 percent came from families of small shopkeepers and rural laborers’ [40].

In the survey of December 2002 and January 2003, madrassa students and teachers were asked about their income. Many did not reply these questions but those who did suggest that they belong to the working class or poor sections of society as 76.62% of their families have an income of upto Rs. 5000 per month. The teachers of the madrassas also belong to the same socio-economic class as their students since 72.22% have a family income of upto Rs. 5000 per month (see Annexure-1 for details).

Since the madrassas provide free food, clothes, books, notebooks and even jobs (at least in mosques, schools and other madrassas) they are attractive for poor people. In short the madrassas are performing the role of the welfare state in the country. This being so, their influence on rural people and the poorer sections of the urban proletariat will continue to increase as poverty increases. As they are from poor backgrounds they express their sense of being cheated by society in the idiom of religion. This gives them the self-righteousness to fight against the oppressive and unjust system in the name of Islam.

6.6 The Worldview of Madrassa Students and Violence

The madrassa students are the most intolerant of all the other student groups in Pakistan. They are also the most supportive of an aggressive foreign policy. They are also intolerant of religious minorities and do not support equal rights for men and women as in Western countries (see Annexure-2). The teaching of the views of the sub-sect (maslak) necessarily makes them prejudiced against other sects of Islam also. However, sectarian differences have always been there but have not been expressed as violently as they are expressed now in Pakistan.

General Pervez Musharraf’s military government, in an attempt to control religious extremism, made a law to control the madrassas. This law—Voluntary Registration and Regulation Ordinance 2002—has, however, been rejected by most of the madrassas which want no state interference in their affairs (several issues of Wafaq ul Madaris (2002) and unstructured interviews of the ulema). Indeed, according to Singer, 4,350, about one tenth, agreed to be registered and the rest simply ignored the statute’ [41]. The number of those who did not register is not known.

The madrassas became militant when they were used by the Pakistani state to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and then in Kashmir so as to force India to leave the state. Pakistan’s claim on Kashmir, as discussed by many including Alastair Lamb[42], has led to conflict with India and the Islamic militants or Jihadis, who have entered the fray since 1989. The United States indirectly, and sometimes directly, helped in creating militancy among the clergy. For instance, special textbooks in Darri (Afghan Persian) and Pashto were written at the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a USAID grant in the 1980s[43]. American arms and money flowed to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s Inter services Intelligence as several books indicate[44].

At that time all this was done to defeat the Soviet Union. Later, while Pakistan’s military kept using the militant Islamists in Kashmir, the United States was much alarmed by them—not without reason as the events of Nine Eleven demonstrated later. After this catastrophic incident in which more than three thousand people died in New York, the Americans tried to understand the madrassas better. P.W. Singer, an analyst in the Brookings Institute who has been referred to earlier, wrote that there were 10-15 percent ‘radical’ madrassas which teach anti-American rhetoric, terrorism and even impart military training[45]. No proof for these claims was offered but they are credible given the fact that madrassa teachers often say that the U.S.A is at war with Islam.

Apart from the madrassas proper, religious parties—such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahidin—print militant literature which circulates among the madrassas and other institutions. Although these parties have been banned, their member are said to be dispersed all over Pakistan, especially in the madrassas. The madrassas, then, may be the potential centres of Islamic militancy in Pakistan.

7. English-medium Schools

The stated official policy of the government is that public money will be spent on schools which will use Urdu (and Sindhi only in parts of Sindh) as the medium of instruction. It is often stated that private educational institutions are run by private resources and enterprise. However, this is only partly true as we shall see below.

7.1 Cadet Colleges/Public Schools

In Pakistan the armed forces and the higher bureaucracy use English for official purposes. Thus they were interested in obtaining young people who were competent in that language. The armed forces, wishing to equip their own wards at lower cost than private elitist schools charged, established ‘a number of cadet colleges and academies’ [46] at the behest of General Ayub Khan. In 1966 the students from less privileged schools protested against these institutions. The government appointed a commission under Justice Hamood Ur Rahman to probe into the causes of the student’s complaints. This commission, called the commission on Student’s Welfare and problems, published a report in which, surprisingly, it agreed that such schools violated the constitutional assurance that ‘all citizens are equal before law (Paragraph 15 under Right No. VI)’ [47] but defended them as the training schools of the future leaders of the country[48].

As a result the cadet colleges multiplied. Indeed, the armed forces through the Fauji Foundation (Army), Shaheen Foundation (Air Force) and the Bahria Foundation (Navy) created many more institutions from the nineteen seventies onwards. The Fauji Foundation, for instance runs 88 secondary and 4 higher secondary schools. These schools charge a low tuition fees from beneficiaries (retired military personnel) while charging much higher fees from civilians. The rates of tuition fees vary from rural to urban areas and from category to category. Beneficiaries, pay much lower fees than civilians. The Military College Jhelum, a cadet college administered by the army, charges Rs. 400 per month as tuition fees from armed forces beneficiaries and Rs 1000 from civilians. In short, the armed forces have entered the field of English-medium, elitist education and generally provide cheap English-medium schooling to their own dependents.

The cadet colleges are subsidized by the state. According to the information given by some of them the subsidies are as follows:

Box-4
Institution	Donation from Provincial Govt.	Number of Students	Yearly cost per student to Govt.
Cadet College Kohat	5,819.800	575	10,121
Cadet College Larkana	6,000,000	480	12,500
Cadet College Pitaro	14,344,000	700	20,491
Laurence College	12,000,000	711	16,878
Cadet College Hasanabdal	8,096,000	480	16,867
Source: Information about donations and number of students has been supplied by the offices of the respective institutions.

It is because of this that, while cadet colleges have excellent boarding and lodging arrangements, spacious playgrounds, well equipped libraries and laboratories and faculty with masters’ degrees, the ordinary Urdu-medium (and Sindhi-medium) schools sometimes do not even have benches for pupils to sit on.

The textbooks of Cadet Colleges are in English but they are mostly from the Textbook Boards. Their teachers, generally from the middle classes, also expose them to anti-India, pro-military ideas. Moreover, as most students are boarders they are not exposed to cable TV as their elitist school counterparts are.

Thus, children of cadet colleges being less exposed to Western sources of information and role models, are more supportive of militant policies and denial of rights to minorities than elitist English-medium children (see Annexure-2).

7.2 ELITIST ENGLISH-MEDIUM SCHOOLS

Apart from the schools run by agencies of the state itself—the federal government, the armed forces, the bureaucracy—in contravention of the stated policy of providing vernacular-medium education at state expense, there are private schools which deal in selling English at exorbitant prices. Private schools catering to the elite have existed since British times. In Pakistan the convents were such types of schools and most Anglicized senior members of the elite are from such institutions. These schools were not as expensive as those which replaced them from 1985 onwards. The new schools which took their place have campuses spread all over the country though all are not of equal quality. They charge tuition fees of Rs. 1500 and more per month. They prepare students for the British Ordinary and advanced level examinations.

Because of textbooks containing discourses originating in other countries as well as exposure to cable TV, fiction from Western countries and grownups who are exposed to other discourses, children from such schools tend to be more tolerant of the ‘Other’— be it religious, the West or India—and less supportive of militant policies in Kashmir than their counterparts in other schools (see Annexure-2).

The survey in annexures 1 and 2 is on O’level students of elitist schools of Islamabad and Lahore charging a tuition fees of at least Rs 2,500 per month. Most of them (51.43%) belong to the upper middle class with an income of Rs. 20,001 to 50,000 per month while more than one third (37.15%) are in higher income groups (see Annexure-1 for details).

Besides what the students have written, an indicator of their socio-economic background is the exorbitant tuition fees their parents pay; their dress (Western and expensive); their lifestyle (travelling in cars, eating out, going to concerts, celebrating birthdays with parties and expensive gifts etc), and the houses they live in (modern, expensive, urban).

The teachers of these schools, who happen to be mostly women, are neither as supportive of a peaceful foreign policy nor as tolerant of religious minorities as their students (see Annexure-2). One explanation for this observation is that the teachers belong to middle-class socio-economic backgrounds whereas the students belong to more affluent and Westernized ones (see Annexure-1).

8. Conclusion

Pakistan’s educational system is stratified according to socio-economic class which is expressed roughly in terms of media of instruction or type of educational institution. The madrassas cater for very poor children mostly from rural and urban working class localities. In India too the madrassas cater for the poor (Muslims) and, therefore, should not be alienated as Yoginder Sikand points out[49]. The Urdu-medium schools cater for lower-middle-class and some middle class children while the elitist English-medium schools cater for the upper-medium and upper classes. The cost per student per year in these institutions is by itself an indicator of the economic apartheid which prevails and is supported by the state in the educational system of Pakistan.

Box-5
DIFFERENCES IN COSTS IN MAJOR TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (in Pakistani rupees)
Institution	Average cost per student per year	Payer (s)	Cost to the state
Madrassas	5,714 (includes board and lodging)	Philanthropists + religious organizations	None reported except subsidies on computers, books etc in some madrassas
Urdu-medium Schools	2264.5 (only tuition)	State	2264.5
Elitist English medium schools	96,000—for ‘A’ level & 36,000 for other levels (only tuition)	Parents	None reported except subsidized land in some cantonments.
Cadet colleges/public schools	90,061 (tuition and all facilities).	Parents + state (average of 6 cadet colleges + 1 public school	14,171 (average of 5 cadet colleges only)
Source: Data obtained from several institutions.

The worldview of the students of these institutions is so different from each other that they seem to live in different worlds. The most acute polarization is between the madrassa students and the students of elitist English-medium schools. The former are deprived but they express their anger—the rage of the dispossessed—in the idiom of religion. This brings them in conflict with the Westernized elite which looks down upon them in contempt although its most powerful members legitimize their hold on the state apparatus in the name of Islam. The state has strengthened the Islamic lobby itself by Islamizing education and sacralizing the Kashmir dispute so that religious and nationalistic emotion has come to be invested in it. Now that the state feels obliged to reverse these policies, it is already facing resistance from the Islamic lobby. This may increase if the madrassa-educated young men are marginalized even further while remaining both poor and armed. The majority of the students, from the Urdu-medium stream, are also alienated both from their madrassa as well as English-medium counterparts. In socio-economic terms they belong roughly to the same class as the madrassa students but their training is different and hence their views are also different. Moreover, not sharing the Westernization and the wealth of the English-medium students, they too are alienated from them and have a vague sense of having been cheated. These differences in views and dissatisfaction do not augur well for nation-building or cohesion. They have a divisive potential along class lines which will probably be expressed in the nationalistic and religious idiom in any future crisis. Indeed, if the state keeps investing only in defense and on the elite, it will withdraw further and further away from the social sector. This has already occurred and both religious extremists and the ethnic nationalists have tried to fill in the vacant space. If the armies of the unemployed and the marginalized are not to be increased till they become unmanageable, the state should invest on the poor. The best investment will be on education—but education which promotes tolerance and humane values. The way to achieve this will be to create a just and fair education system which can only happen if we have one stream of education and not so many polarized ones.

Annexure-1

Monthly Income and Social Mobility of Students and Faculty in Different Educational Institutions in Pakistan

The government of Pakistan gives income in quintiles. These are calculated in Appendix-C of PIHS (2002). The income is in Pakistani rupees per month per capita is as follows:

1st Q Rs. 620.45 and below

2nd Q Rs. 620.46 – 769.9

3rd Q Rs. 769.1-947.53

4th Q Rs. 947.54-1254.53

5th Q Rs. 1254.54 and above.

For this survey, the present author has calculated income in rupees per month and divided it according to socio-economic class. This information has been collected in response to section 1 of the questionnaire which is given in Annexure-2.

The figures below give the monthly income of the families of students and faculty as reported by them in our sample. The correspondence with socio-economic class, however rough, is as follows:

Working (lower) class = Upto Rs 5000 per month.

Lower middle class = 5001 – 10,000

Middle class = 10,001-20,000

Upper middle class = 20,001 – 50,000

Lower upper class = 50,001 – 100,000

Middle upper class = Above 100,000

The income is for the whole family and not of the individuals earning it

Income of the Families of Madrassa Students

N = 142

	Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000- 100,000
Pay father	65 of 142 (47.77%)	59 of 77 (76.62%)	10 of 77 (14.86%)	04 of 77 (5.19%)	04 of 77 (5.19%)	Nil
Pay mother	139 of 142 (97.89%)	02 of 3 (66.66%)	1 of 3 (33.33%)	Nil	Nil	Nil
Father and Mother	N.A	1 of 3 (33.33%)	01 of 3 (33.33%)	1 of 3 (33.33%)
Analysis: Most madrassa students belong to the working classes.

Income of the Families of Madrassa Teachers

N = 27

	Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000– 100,000
Pay self	09 of 27 (33.33%)	13 of 18 (72.22%)	03 of 18 (16.66%)	02 of 18 (11.11%)	Nil	Nil
Pay spouse	26 of 27 (96.30%)	01 of 1 (100%)	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Husband and wife	N.A	Nil	01 of 1 (100%)	Nil	Nil	Nil
Analysis: Most madrassa teachers belong to the working classes.

Income of the Families of Elitist English School Faculty

N = 65

	Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000– 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay self	11 of 65 (16.92%)	03 of 54 (5.55%)	22 of 54 (40.74%)	18 of 54 (33.33%)	10 of 54 (15.38%)	01 of 54 (1.85%)	Nil
Pay spouse	55 of 65 (84.62%)	Nil	1 of 10 (10%)	6 of 10 (60%)	02 of 10 (20%)	01 of 10 (10%)	Nil
Husband and wife	N.A	Nil	Nil	3 of 10 (30%)	04 of 10 (40%)	02 of 10 (20%)	01 of 10 (10%)
Analysis: Most teachers have written their own income but not of their spouses. They fall between middle and upper middle class brackets. When husband and wife both earn, the family goes up in income even going into the lower upper class.

Income of the Families of Elitist English School Students

N = 116

		Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000– 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay father		81 of 116 (69.83%)	Nil	01 of 35 (2.86%)	03 of 35 (8.57%)	18 of 35 (51.43%)	08 of 35 (22.86%)	05 of 35 (14.29%)
Pay mother		101 of 116 (87.07%)	1 of 15 (6.66%)	03 of 15 (20%)	02 of 15 (13.33%)	08 of 15 (53.33%)	1 of 15 (6.66%)	Nil
Father and mother		N.A	1 of 15 (6.66%)	02 of 15 (13.33%)	Nil	04 of 15 (26.66%)	05 of 15 (33.33%)	03 of 15 (20%)
Analysis:	Most of them have not written their parents’ income. Out of those who have most belong to the upper middle class. More than one third belong to the upper classes

Income of Families of Urdu-medium School Students

N = 230

		Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000– 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay father		95 of 230 (41.31%)	83 of 135 (61.48%)	36 of 135 (26.66%)	13 of 135 (9.63%)	03 of 135 (2.22%)	Nil	Nil
Pay mother		220 of 230 (95.65%)	8 of 10 (80%)	2 of 10 (20%)	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Father and mother		N.A	2 of 10 (20%)	4 of 10 (40%)	4 of 10 (40%)	Nil	Nil	Nil
Analysis:	Most have written their fathers’ income but not their mothers’ who are probably housewives. Out of those of who have written, most belong to working class families. About a quarter, however, also belong to the lower middle classes. Very few are above that in income.

Income of the Families of the Faculty of Urdu-medium Schools

N = 100

		Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001- 20,000	20,001- 50,000	50,000- 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay self		6 of 100 (6%)	17 of 94 (18.09%)	62 of 94 (65.96%)	15 of 94 (15.96%)	Nil	Nil	Nil
Pay spouse		82 of 100 (82%)	3 of 18 (16.66%)	06 of 18 (33.33%)	07 of 18 (38.89%)	02 of 18 (11.11%)	Nil	Nil
Husband and wife		N.A	Nil	Nil	09 of 18 (50%)	09 of 18 (50%)	Nil	Nil
Analysis:	Most earners have written their income but not that of their spouse. Most belong to the lower middle class. Out of the few spouses whose income is reported, a fairly large proportion tend to have middle class incomes and a very small minority even higher than that.

Income of the families of Public School and Cadet College Students

N = 130

		Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001– 20,000	20,001– 50,000	50,000– 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay father		72 of 130 (55.38%)	Nil	5 of 58 (8.62%)	17 of 58 (29.31%)	33 of 58 (56.90%)	3 of 58 (5.17%)	Nil
Pay mother		111 of 130 (85.39%)	2 of 19 (10.53%)	8 of 19 (42.11%)	4 of 19 (21.05%)	5 of 19 (26.32%)	Nil	Nil
Father and mother		N.A	Nil	Nil	2 of 19 (10.53%)	11 of 19 (57.89%)	4 of 19 (21.05%)	Nil
Analysis:	Most have written their father’s income but not that of their mother. They mostly fall in the upper middle class. Very few of them, however, also fall in the lower upper classes.

Income of the Faculty of Cadet Colleges/Public Schools

N= 51

		Not written	Upto 5,000	5,001-10,000	10,001- 20,000	20,001- 50,000	50,000- 100,000	Above 100,000
Pay self		1 of 51 (1.96%)	1 of 50 (2%)	17 of 50 (34%)	28 of 50 (56%)	4 of 50 (8%)	Nil	Nil
Pay spouse		45 of 51 (88.24%)	Nil	1 of 6 (16.66%)	5 of 6 (83.33%)	Nil	Nil	Nil
Husband and wife		N.A	Nil	Nil	1 of 6 (16.66%)	5 of 6 (83.33%)	Nil	Nil
Analysis:	Most have written their own income but not their wife’s. They fall mostly in the middle class with families, where husband and wife both earn, falling mostly in the upper middle class.

Annexure-2

SURVEY 2003

Survey of Schools and Madrassas,

This survey was conducted between December 2002 and April 2003 with the help of two research assistants Imran Farid and Shahid Gondal whom I take this opportunity to thank. Institutions were used as clusters but only students of class 10 and equivalent were given questionnaires in Urdu or English.

The major stratas are (1) Urdu-medium school, (2) elitist English-medium schools (3) Cadet Colleges/Public Schools and (4) madrassas. There is a further stratification between the students and the teachers of these institutions. The following chart helps explain these strata:

TEACHERS
	M (ale)	F (emale)	Total
English-medium	18	47	65
Cadet college/public schools	51	Nil	51
Urdu-medium	42	58	100
Madrassas	27	Nil	27
Grand Total	138	105	243

STUDENTS
	M (ale)	F (emale)	Total
English-medium	62	52	116
Cadet college/public schools	130	Nil	130
Urdu-medium	123	107	230
Madrassas	142	Nil	142
Grand Total	457	159	618

The ages of the students are as follows:

Institutions	Mean	Mode	Range
Cadet colleges	15.5	15	12-19
*Madrassas*	19	20	14-27
English-medium schools	14.1	15	13-18

In the case of the madrassas the range is higher because some of the sanvia class groups had older boys who had joined the seminary late.

The questionnaires for students and teachers are reproduced here. Please note that part-2 (on opinions) is exactly the same. Only part-1 is different for both.

QUESTIONNAIRE (FACULTY)

DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME TO ENSURE SECRECY. WRITE THE NAME of the institution in which you teach with medium of Instruction.

1. Sex (1) Male (2) Female

2. Education: (1) Below B.A (2) B.A (3) M.A (4) M. Phil (5) Ph.D

3. Which subject (s) do you teach?

What is the occupation of your spouse Give his or her rank, title, occupational status; salary; grade; income from all sources etc?

What is your average total monthly income (write income from all sources such as tuition, publications, consultancies, rent etc.

What is the medium of instruction of the school in which your children study (or studied)?

What was medium of instruction of the school in which you studied most?

QUESTIONNAIRE (STUDENTS)

DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME TO ENSURE SECRECY. WRITE THE NAME of your SCHOOL with medium of Instruction.

1. age.

2. Class

3. Sex (1) Male (2) Female

4. What is the occupation of your father? Give his rank, title, occupational status; salary; grade; income from all sources etc?

5. What is the occupation of your mother? Give her rank, title, occupational status, salary, grade, income from all sources etc?

PART-II

(for both faculty and students)

What should be Pakistan’s priorities?

1. Take Kashmir away from India by an open war?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

2. Take Kashmir away from India by supporting Jihadi groups to fight with the Indian army?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

3. Support Kashmir cause through peaceful means only (i.e. no open war or sending Jihadi groups across the line of control?).

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

4. Give equal rights to Ahmedis in all jobs etc?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

5. Give equal rights to Pakistani Hindus in all jobs etc?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

6. Give equal rights to Pakistani Christians in all jobs etc?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

7. Give equal rights to men and women as in Western countries?

(1) Yes (2) No (3) Don’t Know

Consolidated Data of Opinions Indicating Militancy and Tolerance Among three Types of Schools Students in Pakistan in Survey 2003 (in percentages)

Abbreviated Questions			Madrassas	Urdu-medium	English-medium	Cadet Colleges/ Public Schools
1.	Open War	Yes	59.86	39.56	25.86	36.92
		No	31.69	53.04	64.66	60.00
		Don’t Know	8.45	7.39	9.48	3.08
2.	Jihadi groups	Yes	52.82	33.04	22.41	53.08
		No	32.39	45.22	60.34	40.00
		Don’t Know	14.79	21.74	17.24	6.92
3.	Peaceful means	Yes	33.80	75.65	72.41	56.15
		No	54.93	18.26	18.97	36.92
		Don’t Know	11.27	6.09	8.62	6.92
4.	Ahmedis	Yes	12.68	46.95	65.52	41.54
		No	82.39	36.95	9.48	36.92
		Don’t Know	4.93	16.09	25.00	21.54
5.	Hindus	Yes	16.90	47.39	78.45	64.62
		No	76.06	42.61	13.79	31.54
		Don’t Know	7.04	10.00	7.76	3.85
6.	Christians	Yes	18.31	65.65	83.62	76.92
		No	73.24	26.52	8.62	18.46
		Don’t Know	8.45	7.83	7.76	4.62
7.	Women	Yes	16.90	75.22	90.52	67.69
		No	77.46	17.39	6.03	25.38
		Don’t Know	5.63	7.39	3.45	6.92

NB: Figures for (3) are uninterpretable because some respondents ticked opinion (1) and/or (2) while also ticking (3).

Comparative Chart for Opinions of Faculty Members of Different

Educational Institutions

			Madrassas (27)	Urdu-medium schools (100)	English-medium schools (65)	Cadet Colleges/ Public Schools (51)
1.	Open War	Yes	70.37	20	26.15	19.61
		No	22.22	70	64.62	68.63
		Don’t Know	7.41	10	9.23	11.76
2.	Jihadi groups	Yes	59.26	19	38.46	39.22
		No	29.63	68	50.77	52.94
		Don’t Know	11.11	13	10.77	7.84
3.	Peaceful means	Yes	29.63	85	60.00	66.66
		No	66.67	10	33.85	19.61
		Don’t Know	3.70	5	6.15	13.73
4.	Ahmedis	Yes	3.70	27	43.07	29.41
		No	96.30	65	36.92	62.75
		Don’t Know	NIL	8	20.00	7.84
5.	Hindus	Yes	14.81	37	61.54	60.78
		No	85.19	58	26.15	35.29
		Don’t Know	NIL	5	12.31	3.92
6.	Christians	Yes	18.52	52	81.54	60.78
		No	77.77	42	10.77	33.33
		Don’t Know	3.70	6	7.69	5.88
7.	Women	Yes	3.70	61	78.46	37.25
		No	96.30	33	13.85	58.82
		Don’t Know	NIL	6	7.69	3.92

NOTES and REFERENCES

DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS

A Survey of the Education System

of

Pakistan

By

Tariq Rahman

DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS: A Survey of the Education System

of Pakistan

3. METHODOLOGY

4. Educational Policies in Pakistan

5. Urdu-medium Schools

Level

5.2 Funding of Urdu Schools

5.3 Other Influences on Urdu-medium Students

6. Madrassas

Box-4

Annexure-1

Income of the Families of Madrassa Students

Income of the Families of Madrassa Teachers

Income of the Families of Elitist English School Faculty

Income of the Families of Elitist English School Students