Religion and Religious Education: An Analytical Study of Selected Schools of Dars e Nizami and Religious Blended Institutions in Rawalpindi and Islamab

Abstract

Ever since the existence of human civilization, religion has always played a very significant role in the life of individuals. The religious institutions hold a central position in our society. These madrassas have quite uniquely designed their curriculum to comply with their objectives in order to fulfill the spiritual needs and to bring cohesion among individuals. In this dissertation, the researcher has attempted to analyze the credibility and veracity of Dars e Nizami which is a scheme of curriculum used in Islamic institutions. The population which has been kept under keen consideration for the case study includes two cities of Pakistan, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Dars e Nizami based madrassas offer their degree program extended upon eight years of educational duration which covers Quranic, Social and Natural sciences. The curricula have been assessed by using HIACE tool with heuristic and hermeneutical theories. These theories evaluate the curricula while operating through the four fundamental dimensions: ecological, anthropological, epistemological and pedagogical. For the evaluation process, the researcher has year –wise categorized the curricula books according to their subject matter. Each dimension is accompanied by few basic research questions. These research questions helped to make the checklists of the books to evaluate the dimensions. The outcome of this analytical study has been presented in descriptive form which concludes that the major number of the curricula books do not cover the aforementioned four dimensions. The key data of such books mainly from year one to four is based on the development of Arabic and Persian language, whereas, books from Natural Sciences which are taught in year six and seven are not up to date. The graduates are unable to efficiently use English Language for communication purposes (written as well as spoken). Moreover, they do not have access to the computers and thus are deprived of perks of E-Learning. The knowledge given to the students make them specialized in their respective subjects with a remote connection to the DRSML QAU xi societal paradigm shift, ever changing dynamics and updated sciences. Resultantly, the graduates are less privileged to keep pace with the fast growing societal and technological mechanisms unless they invest more time to overcome their weak areas of study to tackle the contemporary problems of this age of globalization for their befitting survival.