A report by a Washington think tank has found that Pakistan's poor public education system helps stoke militancy, while madrasas or religious schools -- often cited as a cause of extremism -- are not a major risk factor.
The Brookings Institution report -- to be released on Wednesday -- examined a raft of studies to assess links between militancy and education.
The researchers said that the public school system in Pakistan is highly corrupt with positions handed out for political favours and teachers being paid even if they don't turn up for classes.
'The way the education system is set up is contributing to support militancy,' The News quoted Rebecca Winthrop, from the Centre for Universal Education at Brookings, as saying.
The report further said that curriculum and teaching methods in public schools helped create intolerant views and also did little to prepare students for the labour market, frustrating youngsters and increasing the pool of militant recruits.
Winthrop and fellow conflict specialist Corinne Graff also said that madrasas were not as numerous as suspected.
'Madrasas account for a tiny fraction of student enrolment and they can hardly be cast as the main obstacle to high quality education and stability,' the report said.
'The almost exclusive focus on madrasas as a security challenge, which is especially prevalent in the West, needs to be corrected,' it added.
Photograph: Reuters
