Challenging the myths about madaris in Pakistan: A national household survey of enrolment and reasons for choosing religious schools

Type Journal Article - International Journal of Educational Development
Title Challenging the myths about madaris in Pakistan: A national household survey of enrolment and reasons for choosing religious schools
Author(s)
Volume 29
Issue 4
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
Page numbers 342-349
URL http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ838242
Abstract
There is speculation about madaris in Pakistan as sources of terrorists and about levels and reasons for enrolment, but a dearth of empirical data. We studied madarsah enrolment among 53,960 representative households; 853 focus groups of parents discussed enrolment choices. In 2004, 2.6% of all children (3.8% of school-going children) aged 5–9 years attended a madarsah. Children from urban and less educated households were more likely to attend a madarsah, but there was no difference by sex of the child or household vulnerability. Parents chose madaris because they offered an Islamic education. Our findings challenge misconceptions about madaris in Pakistan.

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