Education Reform in PakistanK. Alan Kronstadt
Analyst in Asian Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division

Problem OverviewU.S. policymakers have identified the poor quality of Pakistan’s education systemas relevant to both immediate and longer-term U.S. interests in South Asia.1 The Bush Administration states that the top U.S. policy goal in South Asiais “combating terror and the conditions that breed terror in the frontline states of Afghanistan and Pakistan.” It also contends that, “Education is absolutely crucial to Pakistan’s development as a moderate, democratic nation.” The 9/11 Commission Report recommends a long-term U.S. commitment to provide comprehensive support for Pakistan, including in the area of improving education. In passing the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004 (P.L. 108-498), Congress endorsed this recommendation and included its own
call for U.S. support to “improve and expand access to education for all [Pakistani]
citizens.” In addition, Sec. 5108 of the Foreign Operations FY2005 Appropriations bill
(P.L. 108-447) requires the Secretary of State to report to Congress on Pakistan’s
education reform strategy and the U.S. strategy to assist Islamabad in this effort.2
Both the United States and Pakistan are seen to have an interest in the strengthening
of a Pakistani education system that will better prepare young citizens for gainful
employment in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, as well as in curtailing or
halting the teaching of militant/extremist values that are implicated in breeding terrorism.3
To some degree, and often through overt means, such values can be widely transmitted
in “mainstream” (non-religious) schools through historical narratives that provide false
or inaccurate accounts portraying Muslims and/or Pakistanis as victims of foreign
aggression and repression.4 However, for many observers, it is the curriculum taught in
some Pakistani religious schools (madrassas) that represents the most daunting
sociocultural obstacle to President Musharraf’s stated goal of “enlightened moderation.”
The number of madrassas in Pakistan increased more than ten-fold from 1947 to1988, in
apparent correspondence with the deterioration of Pakistan’s public education system. The
Taliban movement itself began among students attending Pakistani religious schools.
Among the more than10,000 madrassas training up to two million children in Pakistan are
a small percentage that have been implicated in teaching militant anti-Western,
anti-American, anti-Hindu, and even anti-Shia values. Press reports, citing Pakistani
government estimates, claim that about 10% of all Pakistani school children attend
madrassas and that 10% of madrassas have links to militant groups. Secretary of State
Powell identified these madrassas as offering “programs that do nothing but prepare
youngsters to be fundamentalists and to be terrorists.” Even the Pakistani President
concedes, “There are many [madrassas] which are involved in militancy and extremism.”5
A sizable portion of these madrassas are financed and operated by Pakistani Islamist
political parties such as Jamaat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI, closely linked to the Taliban), as wel
as by Pakistani expatriates and other unknown foreign entities, many in Saudi Arabia.6
Up to two-thirds of Pakistan’s seminaries are run by the Deobandi sect, known for its
traditionally anti-Shia sentiment and in some instances linked to the Sipah-e-Sahaba, a
Sunni terrorist group. Some senior members of the JUI reportedly have been linked to
several U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.7 The JUI chief, Fazlur Rehman,
was in May 2004 named as Leader of the Opposition in Pakistan’s Parliament.
Pakistani Policy
A state obligation to provide free and compulsory secondary education was included
in Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution. The Pakistan government’s National Plan of Action for
education is projected to cost about $7.2 billion over the period 2001-2015. In December
2001, the government launched an Education Sector Reform (ESR) with seven main
goals, among them significantly increasing the national literacy rate; providing universal
education with increased completion rates and reduced gender disparity; and improving
education quality through curriculum reform, teacher training, and assessment reform.
An “Education for All” project, which Islamabad calls a special focus of ESR, was
launched in 2001 and funded with about $20 million in 2003. Beginning in 2005, English
language classes are to be compulsory in all of Pakistan’s public schools.8
Also among the stated ESR goals is bringing madrassa curriculum into the
mainstream of Pakistan’s general education system through the inclusion of “secular”
subjects such as science. In August 2001, the Islamabad government created a Pakistan
Madrassa Education Board to establish a network of “model madrassas” and regulate
others. In January 2002, President Musharraf vowed to begin regulating Pakistan’s
religious schools, and his government launched a five-year, $113 million plan to bring the
teaching of “formal” (secular) subjects to 8,000 “willing” madrassas. However, no
concrete action was taken until June of that year, when 115 madrassas were denied access
to government assistance due to their alleged links to militancy, and Musharraf set a
December 31, 2002, deadline for such schools to register with the government or face
closure. In November 2003, the government decided to allocate about $50 million
annually to provide assistance to registered seminaries, especially by paying the salaries
of teachers hired to teach non-religious subjects. In July 2004, Pakistan’s then-education
minister announced government agreements with private companies to provide computer
education at all of the country’s public schools. She later declared Islamabad’s intention
to provide financial grants to madrassas that seek to “impart modern-day education.”
U.S. Assistance
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is implementing a fiveyear,
$100 million bilateral agreement (signed in August 2002) to increase access to
quality education throughout Pakistan, with an emphasis on the Baluchistan and Sindh
provinces. Current USAID education-related projects in Pakistan include efforts to
improve early education, engender democratic ideals, improve the quality of assessment
and testing, provide training to educators, and construct or refurbish schools in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Yet the most notable project is Education Sector
Reform Assistance (ESRA), which accounts for more than three-quarters of the
USAID-reported $77.7 million budgeted to date. In this project, USAID contracted with
the North Carolina-based Research Triangle Institute to 1) strengthen education policies
and planning; 2) increase the capacity of teachers and education administrators; 3)
improve youth and adult literacy; 4) expand public-private partnerships to improve access
to and delivery of education services; and 5) establish teaching methods that instill
democratic attitudes and behaviors among children and educators and draw families into
the life of the school community. Former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell has
reported progress in these areas.10 USAID reports that FY2005 funding for its Primary
Education and Literacy program in Pakistan will grow to nearly $67 million, almost
tripling the FY2004 outlay of $24 million. There are concerns that U.S. funding to assist
Pakistan’s education reform efforts has thus far been too small to have significant effect.11
Policy Discussion
In the longer-term interest of promoting moderation and democratic values in
Pakistan, and in improving the socioeconomic status of its people, sector-wide reform of
the education system appears vital. Some analysts suggest that donors such as the United
States may do best to direct their resources at reform of Pakistan’s public education
sector, as they see in this the most effective and least controversial means of reversing the
influence of Islamic extremists and their threat to Pakistani stability. Many observers find
the root of problems with Pakistan’s education system in poverty and inadequate public
financing. While wealthy citizens are able to send their children to private, Englishmedium
schools, the vast majority of Pakistanis must choose between a deteriorated
public system that can be physically difficult to access and religious schools that will feed,
clothe, and oftentimes house their children for free.12 Some analysts are critical of
Pakistan government for what they view as excessive spending on the military in a
country where abject poverty is rife. Although expenditures on education have risen
considerably over the past decade, Islamabad is set to spend nearly $16 on defense for
every $1 spent on education this year. Corruption and economic demands also are factors.
In many locales, schools and textbooks are available, and teachers are paid, but never
report for work. USAID Administrator Natsios has called the existence of these “ghost
schools” a “terrible problem” for Pakistan. Moreover, the use of child labor remains
widespread in Pakistan and international human rights groups have identified “extensive”
use of bonded child labor there, especially in agriculture and textile industries.13
Pakistani officials insist that President Musharraf is serious in his aims to bring
madrassa curriculum closer in substance to that provided in non-religious schools, with
the long-term goal being a curriculum that is nearly identical. In Pakistan, the issue of
government and/or foreign interference in the operations of madrassas is an extremely
sensitive one, in part due to a perception that the Pakistani government, at the alleged
direction of the U.S. government, is seeking to “interfere with religion.”14 U.S. (and
Pakistani) officials emphasize that U.S. assistance efforts are district-wide and are not
targeted at any individual schools or types of schools. Likewise, the United States claims
to be putting no pressure on Pakistan’s internal education policies. Some Western
nongovernmental organizations, working with private donations, have teamed with local
Islamic groups to reform madrassa curricula.15 Despite President Musharraf’s repeated pledges to crack down on the more extremist
madrassas in his country, there is little concrete evidence that he has done so. According
to two observers, “most madrassas remain unregistered, their finances unregulated, and the government has yet to remove the jihadist and sectarian content of their curricula.”16 Many speculate that Musharraf’s reluctance to enforce reform efforts is rooted in his desire to remain on good terms with Pakistan’s Islamist political parties, which are seen to be an important part of his political base.17 More than three years after its creation, the Pakistan
Madrassa Education Board appears to have had little success in fulfilling its mandate. Only
three “model madrassas” have been established, and only a small fraction of Pakistan’s
religious schools have registered (the Board has no ability to compel cooperation).18
Resistance to reform efforts is not limited to Islamist groups, but can also been seen in the
statements of Pakistan’s top political leaders. An example is the April 2004 uproar over
changes made to ninth- and tenth-grade syllabi, a clamor that caused the prime minister,
education minister, and religious affairs minister to reaffirm their commitments to Islam
and backpedal on planned curricula changes. The September 2004 replacement of
Education Minister Zobaida Jalal with former intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Javed Ashraf
Qazi was seen by some analysts as a setback to reform efforts, as Pakistan’s intelligence
agency has long been viewed as a traditional ally of the country’s religious conservatives.
Yet other observers see the move as potentially shielding the government from criticism
by conservatives as it goes ahead with reform efforts.19
It appears that, even setting aside the question of President Musharraf’s sincerity and
full commitment on this issue, resistance to the reform of Pakistan’s madrassas is fierce,
and the schools identified as the most immediately threatening to Pakistani society and
U.S. interests — though small in number — may be immune to governmental pressure
due to their access to external funding sources and their close connections to powerful
Islamist politicians. One nongovernmental report identifies centralized and “deeply
politicized” control of Pakistan’s public education system — perhaps most especially of
curriculum and textbooks — and an over-emphasis on Urdu-medium instruction to be
important causes and exacerbators of the country’s ongoing ethnic and sectarian divisions.The report also criticizes centralized curricular decision-making as bringing about a rise in the Islamization of public syllabi, an outcome that may be the intent of national leaders seeking to manipulate religious fervor in pursuit of foreign policy goals in Kashmir and Afghanistan.20 Given this view, combined with extreme Pakistani sensitivity to perceived interference in religious teaching, it may be that a focus on public sector reform currently is the best choice for donors. A years- or even decades-long effort to improve the quality of Pakistan’s education system and reduce the spread of religious-based militancy appears to be the course that both Pakistani and U.S. leaders have chosen. Attaining set objectives likely will require greater determination and a genuinely long-term commitment.