Punjab closes 75pc mosque schools in 10 years

ISLAMABAD: In order to promote formal primary education in the province, the Punjab government closed as much as 75 percent of the total mosque schools during the last decade. However, instead of increasing the number of primary schools to adjust the students of these mosque schools, the government reduced the number by five percent, analysis of the official data suggests.
As per the official data received from Punjab Bureau of Statistics, the Punjab government has reduced the mosque schools in the province up to 75 percent during last one decade. The data of last one decade from 2002-12 received from Punjab Bureau of Statistics presents some interesting figures about mosque schools in Punjab which were set up during former dictator Gen Ziaul Haq’s era.
In 2002, there were 7742 mosque schools in the province and 342000 students including 290000 male and 52000 female students were enrolled there. However, the very next year the government reduced at least 4.62 percent of these schools in the province and total 7400 mosque schools with 318000 students were closed.
Interestingly, in the coming year i.e. 2004-05 once again mosque schools were increased by 0.99 percent to 7474 schools having 372000 students enrolled. In 2005-06, mosque schools’ number was reduced by 2.54 percent to 7289 schools having 380000 total students including 374000 male and only 6000 female students.
In 2006-07, mosque schools faced a drastic reduction of 26.68 percent schools bringing down their number to 5754. However, the reduction in number of students was not significant as 343000 were still enrolled in these schools.
In 2009-10, 32.41 percent of mosque schools were closed and the number of enrolled students reached 212000 including 209000 male and only 3000 female students.
As per policy, mosque schools were to be replaced by the formal primary schools. But data of the Punjab Bureau of Statistics does not present any rosy picture of the primary schools as despite closing down of the mosque schools, formal primary schools have also been reduced.
If we analyse the same data which has the record of primary schools as well as the mosque schools, there is an interesting figure of formal and informal primary education in the province. In 2002-03, there were 44253 primary schools in the province with total 4208000 students including 2394000 male and 1814000 female.
Instead of increasing the number of primary schools,the provincial government reduced the number by 5.24 percent – 42048 schools in last ten years despite the fact that the number of students is increasing.
In 1978, the government’s policy of Maktab school became dormant. As part of the New Education Policy, the government introduced mosque schools and initially opened 5000 schools across the country including 2000 in Punjab province.
The basic purpose of the mosque school was to provide children with access to the primary school particularly in rural areas. These schools were opened in mosques. It was decided that the mosques schools would be opened only in those villages where normal primary schools did not exist or where a primary school was not available in the vicinity. It was also decided that a mosque school would be provided with a trained PTC teacher in addition to the Imam of the mosque, who would do most of the teaching.