ISLAMABAD: Millions of madrasa students are facing an uncertain future, as unlike other educational institutions in Pakistan their schools are unable to go online amid the country-wide suspension of classes.
“My exams were scheduled for the third week of March, but the coronavirus has disrupted all our plans,” said Muhammad Jamshed who attends a madrasa in Chakwal, Punjab.
His younger brother, who is enrolled in a private school, was getting online instruction from his teachers, but at the seminary no such option was introduced.
“We don’t know how long this shutdown will continue, we are losing our precious time,” the 16-year-old told Arab News.
The suspension of schools from mid-March until May 31 is one of the measures taken by the government to contain the coronavirus pandemic, as the numbers of known COVID-19 cases have been sharply rising since the first one was officially recorded on Feb. 26.
Some 3.5 million Pakistani children study at 30,000 madrasas across the country. The great majority of them are boarding schools where students from poor families receive free education, accommodation and meals.
Most of the schools are run under Wifaq-ul-Madaris — a madrasa umbrella organization.
“All our students have gone to their homes after the government announced closure of schools and madrasas,” Wifaq-ul-Madaris spokesman Talha Rahmani told Arab News. “We have postponed all our exams and other educational activities to safeguard millions of students against the coronavirus.”
Rahmani admitted that no online education was available to madrasa students.
“If the closure (of educational institutions) goes beyond June, then we may consider alternatives to engage our students,” he said.
These alternatives are unlikely to be online classes because the kids may have neither access to the Internet and computers nor the knowledge how to use them, because madrasas do not provide such training.
“Majority of our madrasas impart education through textbooks only as they don’t have computer labs and Internet like other modern schools,” Hafiz Hashim, an administrator at a madrasa in Chakwal, told Arab News.
He said that teachers themselves were not trained to teach computer skills. “Some madrasas are upgrading to computers and Internet, but still there is a long way to go,” he added.
But in the current situation there are graver concerns than computer literacy.
“Majority of our students come from humble backgrounds, so they may face a food shortage or even starvation at their homes during the school shutdown,” Rahmani said, adding that wealthier people should start to “take care of all the deserving around them.”
According to Dr. Amir Tauseen, former chairman of Madrasa Education Board, a financial support package is necessary for madrasa students.
“We appreciate the government for its timely decision of closing schools and madrasas to stem the disease,” he told Arab News, but said that without support, the children will be unable to survive the upcoming out-of-school months. “The state should own madrasa students and teachers at this difficult time, as they are the future of this country.”
