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Puncturing Pakistan's "madrasa myth"
Brookings has a new paper out -- it's two papers in one, really -- examining the role of madrassas (religious schools) in promoting militancy in Pakistan, and the interplay between education and conflict.
The educational system in Pakistan is a mess, due in part to the federal nature of the education system. Literacy is 54 percent nationwide, a figure that masks great regional and gender disparities (less than 10 percent of women in Balochistan can read, for example). 6.8 million children between the ages of five and nine are not in school; less than one-fourth of girls finish primary school.
There's a growing body of research that documents a "robust link between education and civil conflict"; clearly Pakistan's failing schools play some role in fueling militancy.
At the same time, the authors -- Rebecca Winthrop and Corinne Graff -- find little evidence that madrasas are responsible for the recent rise in militancy in Pakistan. The number of madrasas grew exponentially in the late 1980s, but leveled off in the 1990s; less than 10 percent of Pakistani schoolchildren are enrolled in madrasas.
The education ministry estimates enrollment at just 4 percent nationwide (slightly higher in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, where the quality of the public school system is significantly lower).
And few militant groups seem to draw recruits from religious schools -- perhaps, the authors suggest, because they view better-educated recruits as more capable of carrying out complex operations.
Source: The Majlis | Unbiased Middle East news, analysis and commentary
The educational system in Pakistan is a mess, due in part to the federal nature of the education system. Literacy is 54 percent nationwide, a figure that masks great regional and gender disparities (less than 10 percent of women in Balochistan can read, for example). 6.8 million children between the ages of five and nine are not in school; less than one-fourth of girls finish primary school.
There's a growing body of research that documents a "robust link between education and civil conflict"; clearly Pakistan's failing schools play some role in fueling militancy.
At the same time, the authors -- Rebecca Winthrop and Corinne Graff -- find little evidence that madrasas are responsible for the recent rise in militancy in Pakistan. The number of madrasas grew exponentially in the late 1980s, but leveled off in the 1990s; less than 10 percent of Pakistani schoolchildren are enrolled in madrasas.
The education ministry estimates enrollment at just 4 percent nationwide (slightly higher in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, where the quality of the public school system is significantly lower).
And few militant groups seem to draw recruits from religious schools -- perhaps, the authors suggest, because they view better-educated recruits as more capable of carrying out complex operations.
... a recent study of militants involved in the Kashmir dispute suggests that few are recruited in madrasas. Other Pakistan experts confirm this, suggesting, for instance, that Lashkare-e-Tayaba draws its recruits not from madrasas but from universities, colleges and among unemployed youths.
Winthrop and Graff don't completely absolve madrasas; groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba do draw recruits from religious schools, and the curricula at some of them (particularly Deobandi schools) is violently sectarian. But their research suggests that Pakistani militancy is fueled by the generally poor state of the education system, not by a relatively small number of religious schools.Source: The Majlis | Unbiased Middle East news, analysis and commentary