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The finding that children in madrasahs are performing significantly less well than their
counterparts in other schooling system is worthy of further discussion. Madrasahs have long
been viewed with suspicion with significant international interest with some arguing that they
breed extremism and others claiming that they constitute a minimal share of enrolment within
the country (Khwaja et al. 2008). The government’s policies post 9/11 has focused attention
towards madrasahs but has met with mixed success. In August 2001, the GOP created a Pakistan
Madrasah Education Board (PMEB) to establish ‘model madrasahs’ and to regulate existing
seminaries along with the five boards aligned to the doctrinal sects40 determining, curriculum,
standards, holding examinations for diplomas /degrees. By doing so, it was hoped that
madrasahs would be able to provide both religious and secular education. The Education Sector
Reform Action Plan and other efforts were embarked upon by president Musharraf in the early
to mid-2000s and included the reformation of madrasahs as a key goal. In particular, it was
aimed to bring madrasah curriculum into mainstream education through incorporating the
teaching of secular subjects within seminaries. However, many madrasahs resisted these
reforms, favouring autonomy over registration. As early as 2001 the five boards or Wafaqs had
joined hands to counter regulation through a body called Ittehad Tanzeemat-e-Madaris-e-Diniya
(ITMD). Through the Voluntary Registration and Regulation Ordinance 2002, the state promised
funding to madrasahs that formally registered with the government. In a more controversial
step, the Pakistani state demanded that madrasahs expel all foreign students by December 31,
2005. Many Islamist groups deeply resisted these efforts. Many subsequent reforms have
followed – including those embedded within education policies. However, despite all these
efforts, the mistrust between madrasahs and the government has been hard to dispel. There is
no empirical research on student outcomes for children studying in madrasahs in Pakistan that
we are aware of. What quality research does exist, however, appears to note that these
institutions are prominent non-state education providers and can be important partners in
advancing education in the country (Bano 2011). However, forging such partnerships is
contingent on a serious financial commitment on part of the state to establishing trust
relationships at scale. Little is known beyond these facts but non-empirical accounts indicate
that much of the learning that occurs within these institutions in Pakistan employs ‘mimetic-
pedagogy’ and rote learning mostly of religious texts. There is also anecdotal evidence that
children studying in these institutions are typically from the poor and disadvantaged
backgrounds and these factors can potentially help explain the low learning levels witnessed
among this category of children in the ASER data41.
The regional differences observed in descriptive statistics are very much prevalent in the
regression results. In particular, all provinces fare worse than Punjab with Sindh (and
Balochistan) performing significantly worse than the richest province. Tables 3.3.1-3.3.4
present the empirical estimates for ‘higher order’ reading/literacy outcomes for children aged
5-16 using 2013 and 2016 data. The findings are similar to those reported for numeracy and
similar drivers of disadvantage and inequity prevail for literacy as they do for numeracy with
older, male children, those with better educated parents, better socio-economic backgrounds
and living in Punjab and AJK and studying in private schools, performing better than their
counterparts.
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