An important meeting of Ulema and Mashaikh regarding the registration and reforms of religious seminaries was held in Islamabad today.

Addressing the meeting, Minister for Education Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui clarified that the decision to register seminaries was made with consensus in 2019. He emphasized that the aim was not to control the religious seminaries, but rather to ensure that the entire country could benefit from them. He said the Ministry of Education would continue to extend support to religious seminaries.

Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhary Salik Hussain said the government continue its efforts for better future of students of religious seminaries. He emphasized that contemporary education for these students is also important.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said the benefits of registering religious Madaris with the Ministry of Education have begun to yield positive results. He mentioned that students of the Madaris are now shining in various fields, including science and Information Technology.

He said the registration mechanism was evolved after extensive consultations with religious scholars of all schools of thought. He said the main aim was to bring the students of religious Madaris to the national mainstream. He appreciated the cooperation of the religious scholars in this regard.

The Information Minister said we will also listen to the suggestions of JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the matter. He said it will be our endeavour to come up with a solution that is acceptable to all.

Attaullah Tarar said the registration of eighteen thousand religious seminaries is a result of the hard work of the Directorate of Religious Education. He congratulated the Director General for completing this task.

The Minister said we have to play our due role in the matters relating to law and order in the country. He said there is also dire need to counter terrorism and creating awareness among the masses in this connection. Addressing the meeting, Director General of Religious Education Ghulam Qamar recognized the role of seminaries for education of children of poor segments of the society. He said eighteen thousand and six hundred seminaries have got themselves registered. He said we are also providing teachers to the seminaries. This year technical training was provided to twenty five hundred students of seminaries.

Religious scholars and administrators of religious institutions from all schools of thought attended the meeting.