Past Madrassah Reform: a History

Past Madrassah Reform: a History The 1962 Reforms Since its inception, Pakistan has tried three times to undertake major renovations in the madrassah school system. The first reforms occurred in 1962 under General Ayub Khan. In 1961, a committee was formed to analyze the current curriculum and make recommendations concerning how best to reform the system so that graduates would be more employable. The resulting report was released in 1962. Notable alterations included: introducing courses like mathematics into the curriculum, instructing in Urdu at the primary levels and Arabic and/or English at the higher levels of study, and testing graduates in five exams including Euclidean mathematics.27 The second part of the reform strategy was to control the level of funding madrassahs received. Khan sought to strengthen the role of state institutions at the expense of traditional community leaders like the ulama, who he thought opposed his regime and thus limited his power. One way he limited religious scholars influence was to restrict who could fund madrassahs.28 The funding portion of reform was moderately successful, but the recommended changes to the curriculum exposed a core conflict that would derail the 1962 reforms and all the reforms that followed. To alter the madrassah curriculum meant, in a way, reforming the nations practice of Islam, which is sacred to the vast majority of Pakistanis. Since madrassahs produce the next generation of religious scholars, government changes to the schools that contradicted what the ulamas viewed as instrumental in training their successors had social implications far beyond making  modifications to a curriculum. Many disagreed with the governments interpretation of  Islam, and, as a result, rejected the proposals of the 1962 report.29 The 1979 Reforms The second round of attempted reforms occurred in 1979 under the regime of General Zia-ul Huq, and were far more extensive than the 1962 reforms. As previously noted, Zia was responsible for the Islamization of Pakistan. Under his regime, the nation became far more sectarian and Islam infiltrated more aspects of life than it had under past rulers. Unsurprisingly, Zia was very interested in the countrys madrassahs. The reason for the 1979 reform was almost identical to the one in 1962: the madrassahs were failing to provide adequately employment opportunities outside of the  religious sect, and thus it was decided the system should undergo modernization. The recommendations were very similar, as well-again reinforcing the necessity of introducing more modern subjects into the curriculum, including: . . . Urdu, arithmetic, and general science at the primary level; English, general mathematics, and Pakistan studies at the secondary levels; political science, political economy, and English as optional subjects at the baccalaureate and masters level; and comparative religious sciences as a mandatory subject at the masters level. The committee proposed an autonomous National Institute of Madrassahs to compile and revise madrassah curricula, supervise these institutions, administer standardized tests, and award diplomas to the students. The proposed national institute, the committee recommended, was to have an equal number of members from all four subsects within the madrasah education system, and representatives from the government.30 The Report of 1979 sought to create a curriculum that all the different sects of Islam would accept. That being said, the boards ultimately saw the compromise of their beliefs as a loss, because their students would no longer be ideal representatives of their branch after being taught a hybrid faith. 31 Though the results of the 1962 and 1979 reports were similar, there was a significant difference in the composition of the 1979 committee that authored the later report. This committee included numerous ulamas, who worked alongside government officials in constructing the proposed reform. The 1962 committee, however, did not include ulamas nor did it consult with them about which reforms they would support. As a result, the ulamas were originally more open to the 1979 report, as they felt they had significant input in the process. However, while they were invited to participate in the committee, they were not a majority voice on the committee and the committee was led by a government official, so some ulamas still resented the governments authority in dictating the final report.32 It didnt take long after the release of the report for many ulamas to issue reservations about the proposed reforms; others boycotted it completely. The 1979 reforms occurred at the same time as the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The fact that Irans mullahs were successful in overthrowing the Iranian shah, and thus inserting religious figures in powerful political roles in a nearby country, convinced many Pakistani madrassahs that their schools did not need to modernize to be influential in the region.33 Many completely disregarded implementing the reforms, convinced, more than ever, that religious education was more important to Pakistan than the curriculum endorsed in the 1979 reforms. Such  tumultuous regional events had a profound impact on Pakistan, and complicated the madrassah reform process greatly. In fact, these events led to the expansion of a more extreme curriculum in madrassah, making the schools more threatening to development just as the state sought to reform them. During this time Pakistan became the battleground for an international Sunni versus Shia war. Iran was helping the countrys Shias generate support, while countries like Saudi A rabia were funding Sunni militant groups, often through madrassahs. In competition for the funding being offered by Saudi Arabia, some schools attempted to increase their focus on Wahhabism to ensure they would receive more funding than other madrassahs.34 Slowly, schools evolved from being primarily intellectual and religious institutions to political ones, as more students became involved in the religious revolutions occurring outside their borders. The Iranian Revolution served as a huge inspiration to Pakistans minority Shia population, who, seeing the successful Shia revolution in Iran, grew emboldened in their aspiration for political power. The number of Shias in the country began to increase, as many moderates in the country shifted their allegiance to Shia due to its opposition to Zias aggressive Islamization campaign.35 Zia, a Sunni, saw the rise in Shia activism as a threat to his regime, especially following the 5 July 1980 demonstration in Islamabad where 25,000 Shias v iolently protested the zakat36 law put in place as part of Zias lamization campaign.37 The zakat funds allowed the government to increase funding to schools like madrassahs since they often cater to the underprivileged. In 1984 alone over nine percent of the zakat fund was distributed to 2,273 madrassahs.38 Zias hope was that through these donations the madrassahs would become dependent on the state for their finances and, upon graduation, employment. While some madrassahs eagerly accepted the contributions to their struggling schools, other resented the government oversight and the obligations to the Zia regime that accompanied the zakat funds. They no longer wanted to be dependent on the government for what they viewed as bribes to expand government oversight of religious schools. The reliance on zakat funds, others believed,  had caused voluntary contributions to madrassahs to sharply decline, resulting in an overall loss of income for schools.39 The Shias decided to actively reject the zakat funds, which they believed were contradictory to their faith. Despite wa nting to limit the Shias influence, Zia had to relent to the 1980 protests of the Shia, as they effectively shut down Pakistans capital city. The victory of being exempt from paying zakat to the government inspired many independents in the country to declare themselves Shias. In retribution, Zia funneled more zakat funds into the nations Sunni-controlled madrassahs. The madrassahs became a venue in which Zia could resist the Shia influence, and thus these madrassahs became increasingly anti-Shia. Since Zia actively encouraged this behavior in order to resist the rise in Shias, it is no wonder that the school system became a place in which students grew intolerant of Shias, which led to a more sectarian and aggressive society. For the short-term goal of limiting Shia influence, Zia created a school system that, even   today, remains entrenched in perpetuating an exclusionary worldview, rather than an  accepting and tolerant environment for students. As previously reported, Z ia, in an attempt to recruit the support of the nations ulamas, decided some madrassah degrees would be considered equal to degrees from government schools. This movement correlated to the 1979 reforms, for though Zia wanted to increase employability for madrassah graduates, he wanted to make sure that as professionals the graduates had skills useful in the workplace. Under the assumption they could study Islam and still graduate qualified to work in the government, the number of madrassah graduates skyrocketed. Between 1960 and 1980, over 5,000 ulamas had been trained; following the equivalency certificates in 1981-1985, over 6,000 ulamas graduated-thats 1,000 more graduates in a quarter of the time.40 Though this initiative was intended to provide madrassah graduates with more authority, many new ulama graduates became less interested in the traditional study of Islam, and more concentrated on religious ideology as a means to influence the government. As such, some opened their own madrassahs so that they could funnel more graduates into the government or increasingly powerful political parties.41 In the late 1980s, the country began its decade of democracy. However, rather than economic prosperity and social equality, the decade produced poorer economic conditions and economic stagnation. The recession reduced employment opportunities, and many madrassah graduates who assumed they would secure a job within the government went unemployed. The curriculum many of the new madrassahs implemented left their students unqualified to beat out top students from government or private schools for the few positions available in the government, and it also left them unqualified for traditional ulama positions, which they theoretically could have secured if  they had followed traditional madrassah curricula. Rather than making students qualified for both religious and government work, the 1979 reforms had made students unqualified for either. With no opportunities in government or in religious posts, many new madrassah graduates focused their efforts on pursing their political agendas.42 They abandoned established political parties to form more extreme, militant ones. They also opened their own, more ideologically-minded madrassahs at an accelerated rate, thanks in part to the ncrease in zakat funds given to some madrassahs. While the more established madrassahs largely maintained their traditional curriculums, the madrassahs that were built during this time-especially those close to Afghanistan-were overseen by low ranking ulama who replaced traditional curricula with those that endorsed militarization. The goal of these madrassahs was to train students to become political activists, which they saw as more influential than a traditional ulama Post September 11th, it is clear how this radical momentum leading into the 1990s produced in Pakistan an environment similar to that in Afghanistan which provided Osama bin Laden p rotection and opportunity in planning the September 11th attacks. Why I Chose to Be an Accountant: A Reflection Why I Chose to Be an Accountant: A Reflection Accounting is an information and measurement system that we use for the purpose of identifying, recording, measuring, and communicating relevant and reliable information about an entity to those with an interest in the entity. Accounting is a very challenging and rewarding career with a wide variety of career paths that one can venture in. Accounting is more of a communicating language in the world of business and as a result, the demand for accountants are constantly increasing, making accounting an extremely marketable career path. An accountant, like a majority of other jobs, has the ability to work as an independent accountant or work in a corporate atmosphere. I decided to make a career into the field of accounting in the corporate market, working for a firm and then a private company. My goal is to achieve a position of a CFO or venturing into my own business. When I first heard about accounting I thought it was a generic degree that had only one specific work area inside of a business. However, after speaking to accountants and learning more about the career I learned of several opportunities that are available to an accountant with a Bachelors degree. This can include auditing, bookkeeping, budget analyst, financial accounting, management accounting, tax, and much more. Inside each of these careers, accountants could also find a specific niche that they particularly like. For example, I spoke with a lady who works as a tax consultant but has never done a tax statement in her life because all she does is work with international markets for her company as it pertains to the budgeting for the tax aspect. Auditing is one of the most common areas that accountants have chosen to build their careers in. I believe in this era that we are in today, the work of an auditor is extremely important to ensure that the numbers reported by an entity are accurate and as a result, we, as citizens, are able to invest in companies accordingly. Also, having the ability to audit a company requires in-depth knowledge into the market, legal environment, and the entity. Although I am interested in audit, I would like to start my career in tax. This is because taxation is an extremely important to a company and is extremely limited in regards to acceptance and turnover of employees. I believe to be a qualified tax accountant, an individual must have good knowledge of the necessary kind of government regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. As a tax accountant, I will be first be placed on a team in a tax department, where my duties can include reviewing files and company financial records, preparing ledgers, filling out tax forms, maintaining contact with tax agencies and holding meetings that are related to taxation and strategy (Admin, n.d.). My backup plan is to venture in becoming a forensic accountant with the FBI. I believe with my degree, as well as my military background in the U.S. Marines, I will be a qualified candidate. However, I dont believe in pursuing that as my primary career goal because the government funding is fi ckle as well as the pay, compared to the corporate market. Although tax in many firms, have a low acceptance rate and many companies require you to have at least 2-3 years work experience in the field as well as at least a bachelors degree, I believe I will excel when given the opportunity. This is because not only do I have a passion for it but I also excel in the quantitative areas. As far as the work experience that is required, I will be trying to go through an internship to full-time offer with one of the local firms in Miami, which doesnt require the work experience. With every accounting career field, you are required to work a lot of hours during busy seasons. At times I have heard of accountants working up to 7 days a week for 13-14 hours a day. I believe every qualified accountant expects a salary that is higher than or on par with other undergraduates from a number of business schools. Unfortunately, these expectations are rarely met in the current society. Currently the broad career field of Accountants and Auditors has an average hourly wage is $36.19 with an average annual salary of $75,280 (Labor, 2016).   However, as an entry-level tax accountant, I can realistically expect to earn between $47,568-$59,269 (salary.com, n.d.). Quite a number of students have joined the big accounting firms that pay higher salaries but its usually an average of around $50,000-$60,000. In other words, a lot of qualified accountants will be forced into sectors that dont pay as well. I believe in order to make the most in the beginning of my career, I should try not to fall victim to this lower market of accounts by realizing the dilemma and work and figure out ways to avoid it. One way I hope to avoid this is by completing my Master s in Accounting as well as my CPA. I also believe by doing programs like VITA and internships, will make me a key candidate that will be viewed as having the ability to succeed in any turmoil the company might face. The type of internships I will be looking to acquire internships that will give me experience with software solutions such as Inuit QuickBooks, Sage 50 Accounting, ATX Total Tax Office, CCH ProSystem fx TAX, Delphi Technology, and Oracle E-Business Suite Financial ls (Development, n.d.). Hopefully the internship I will be offered a full-time position in which I believe can help progress my career in one of the corporate offices because of a majority of their corporate promotion structure. I believe this will help mold me into an accountant that will be incredibly marketable in the corporate market. In conclusion, I would say that accounting is the very diverse career path that will forever be in demand. As our world moves more towards global transactions I also believe that we accountants will be in more demand. This is because accountants are a necessity to determine how successful a business entity is, that can be detrimental in determining if a business segment can survive in a new international market, costs needed to allocating, etc. For a successful career in accounting, I should always look for opportunities to mold myself as a capable accountant as well as adapt the new technology advances and learn how to adapt to the changing government regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. References Admin, W. (n.d.). What does a Tax Accountant Do? Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.topaccountingdegrees.org/: http://www.topaccountingdegrees.org/faq/what-does-a-tax-accountant-do/ Development, N. C. (n.d.). Accountants. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from My Next Move: https://www.mynextmove.org/profile/summary/13-2011.01 Labor, U. S. (2016, March 30). www.bls.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.mynextmove.org/profile/ext/oesmaps/13-2011.01 salary.com. (n.d.). Tax Accountant | Salaries. Retrieved from salary.com: http://www1.salary.com/Tax-Accountant-I-Salaries.html