Integration of Madrassh Islamic Seminary Education With Formal Education System in Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities

ABSTRACT: Extremism remains the main concern for global security after 9/11 event. Western countries consider the religious intolerance in Muslim countries as a source of prevailing extremism. Pakistani Madaris (seminaries) are considered as a place for indoctrination of extremism and intolerance. The questions need to be addressed that why and how religious students tended towards extremism. The evidence shows that in Pukhtoon Society; the traditional social institutions of Hujra (Community center) and Jumaat (Mosque) relationship is also affected in post Afghan Soviet war. Hujra (Pukhtoon Community centre) which is traditionally the main supporter and financer of Jumaat (Mosquereligious institution) ; now seems to be overpowered by the religious institutions after getting trained and motivated organized Taliban (students of Indigenous Islamic Education System) and financial freedom after Afghan Soviet war. In this paper the question of legal status given to Taliban and their education status by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is discussed. For exploring to answer this question both primary and secondary sources of data are used. The study concluded that no properly defined legal status exists for the millions of Taliban graduates in the state; and the aspired streamlining efforts of Madaris with formal education are non productive and ineffective. Even the supreme court of Pakistan is unanswered about the legal status of these graduates. Legislators elected in 2002 National Election faced cases in Supreme Court of Pakistan of their ineligibility based on the in¬ equivalency of their Madaris Sanad (Degree) to the formal University Degree of Pakistan. Government of Pakistan tried to mainstream Madaris education with formal education system of Pakistan, through changing their curricula which is all time resisted by Madaris. It is concluded at the end of the study of integrating Madaris education with formal education system in vertical arrangement rather than in horizontal or lateral arrangement (change of curriculum and amalgamation of courses etc.) . The approach of Vertical arrangement acknowledge the importance and value of both systems and provide benefits to the stakeholders in large. Different modalities are discussed in this paper.

Exploring the Science Professionals Sps Perceptions About the Effective Instructional Material Ims

Teachers need to have Instructional Materials (IMs) to understand the curriculum and to translate the curriculum into students' learning outcomes. In the absence of IMs textbook remain the only source of support for the teachers and the purpose and goals of learning science is not achieved completely. Hence, it was important to explore the qualities of effective IMs to understand and recommend aspects that may enhance the quality and development of IMs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the science professionals' perceptions of effective IMs. Qualitative case study design was used to explore the topic. Ten participants including teachers, teacher educators and material developers were taken as research participants based on their experience of teaching, developing instructional materials, conducting courses for teachers and involvement in the process of IMs. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews from six science teachers, two teacher educators and two instructional material developers. Roberts's curriculum emphasis with a little modification based on the purpose and context of the study was used as a framework to guide the study with regard to data collection and analysis. The modified framework included the Roberts curriculum emphasis, and the nature of science, attitude of science and the organization of the material. Findings of the study revealed that the IMs will be effective if they contain the nature of science, solid foundation and structure of science. Moreover, effective IMs were found to be those which allowed teachers and students to present their personal experiences and explanations without confining them to certain pre-determined contents. It was also found that the IM may contain the elements of science and technology and everyday life application, in order to develop students' curiosity and attitude towards science. Such attitudes could be developed through interactive ways of teaching where students are actively involved in classroom activities. When the students get involved in the classroom activities, they can also relate science to their daily life and the events in the society. The study implied that teachers and teacher educators need to incorporate curriculum emphasis and nature of science to develop a positive attitude towards science. Moreover, this study is significant for the policy reforms as it highlights the qualities of effective IMs and its need in the context of Pakistan. Through this study, I have also developed a tool and a quantitative study is recommended to be conducted using these tools which contain various