Review of Norway’s support for religious schools in Pakistan

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre said the following: “The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs share the view that Norway’s support for religious schools in Pakistan needs to be reviewed before any further allocations are made.

“Extensive material has already been produced that indicates that the project has been implemented as intended. In addition, the Ministry will undertake a comprehensive review before considering any continuation of the completed project. 

“As I pointed out in my answers to Members of the Storting Dagfinn Høybråten (Christian Democratic Party) and Anders Anundsen (Progress Party), the Ministry will consider whether there is a basis for continuing our support after this pilot project has been reviewed.”  

Under the pilot project, Norway has been providing support for 117 selected religious schools to encourage the introduction of secular subjects, under the auspices of the Pakistani authorities. The Ministry and the Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad are now carrying out a review of the pilot project.