Pakistan's religious schools under scrutiny

The military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, says religious schools, or madrassas, should start to offer modern subjects and vocational skills to bring them in line with mainstream Pakistani education.

Speaking at a seminar on education where he outlined the government's policy on religious schools, General Musharraf said the madrassas focused too much on rituals and not enough on building students' characters or preparing them for employment.

Officials say Pakistan has around 6,000 madrassas, but unofficial estimates put the number at more than 20,000.

Some Arab and Western countries - including the United States - complain that the schools harbour and train Islamic extremists.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service