Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo urges Afghanistan to promote education

Newswire

Islamabad: Senior Italian diplomat Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo this week urged Afghanistan to promote education, especially for women.

He retweeted a post by History of Afghanistan, which read: “1,000 years ago, the region of Afghanistan was a bastion of learning & pioneering educational institutions. Europe’s first college was modelled after the Islamic College (madrasa), which originated in Helmand, Southern Afghanistan.”

It added: “The world’s first madrasa was set up in Bust, Khorasan (modern Lashkar-Gah in Southern Afghanistan) by Abu Hatem al-Busti (890-965). It had a library, apartments, & scholarships for students. From Helmand, the education system spread to other parts of Afghanistan.”

The series of tweets continued: “Madrasas were soon recognised as formal institutions by the governments; teachers were paid a salary and students paid a stipend. Within a few centuries, madrasas spread throughout the Islamic world and were encountered by Europeans in places such as Syria.”

It pointed out: “Europe’s first college was set up in 1180 by an English merchant who had just returned from Jerusalem where he saw madrasas. “Collège des Dix-Huit” became one of the founding units of the University of Paris & was modelled on the Islamic madrasa, originating in Helmand.”

It concluded: “With time, Islamic madrasas expanded the curriculum to medicine, geography, history, science, mathematics & other sciences. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim (male and female – Albani: Sahih).”

Ambassador Pontecorvo said education played a major role in development and must be given due importance.