CM Buzdar Approves Hiring of 70,000 Arabic Teachers

Chief Minister Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar, on Monday, approved the hiring of 70,000 Arabic teachers for compulsory teaching of the Holy Quran in schools across the province.

The School Education Department (SED) had submitted a proposal in this regard, which was approved during the provincial cabinet’s meeting on Monday.

The education department Secretary, Ghulam Fareed, told a news outlet that the current Arabic teachers were being trained for the teaching of the Holy Quran in public schools, while the new vacancies had been created for grades 1 to 5.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) had mandated the compulsory teaching of the Holy Quran in December 2020. The step came as an implementation of the Punjab Compulsory Teaching of Holy Quran Act, 2018.

A division bench of the LHC is also hearing an appeal in this regard.

During the hearing of the case, an official of the education department told the high court that they were training 70,000 Arabic language teachers in the first phase.

“Further 60,000 Arabic teachers are required in the province,” the official apprised the court last week. The hearing was adjourned till 3 January.

Earlier this year, the SED had issued directives for its district education authorities to visit all schools in their respective areas, including public and private schools, as well as madrasahs, to ensure that the Holy Quran was being taught as a separate subject.

Following this, authorities had recommended disciplinary action against three school principals in Nankana Sahib for improperly teaching the Holy Quran.