The education ministry on Monday dropped a draft law on Qawmi madrasas from its agenda at on Monday’s cabinet meeting amid division in the madrasa community over the government’s supervision.
The draft act, dubbed Qawmi Madrasa Education Authority Bill, 2013, was held back a day after radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam threatened to wage civil war if the government tried to establish its control on the Qawmi madrasas, which have so far remained out of any sort of official monitoring and recognition.
A group of qawmi madrasa teachers, however, had welcomed the draft law, saying it did not contain anything that might harm the qawmi education system.
“The education ministry withdrew the bill for further scrutiny, correction and extension,” Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid also said the ministry had plans to scrutinise the proposed law further before seeking cabinet approval.
However, sources at the education ministry said the act might be withdrawn altogether to “avoid anarchy.”
Hefazat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi, at a press conference in Chittagong on Sunday, warned the country would face a civil war if such a law was passed. He announced a demonstration programme for Friday to protest the proposed legislation.
Last year, the government formed a commission to reform Qawmi madrasas by modernising and improving their education standards so that students could have the skills to compete in the current job market. Initially, the Hefazat chief was in the committee, but he later quit.
A report submitted by the commission in April this year recommended establishing an independent university and an authority to recognise the students.
The recommendations included a six-tier education system for the Qawmi madrasas - primary, junior secondary, secondary, higher secondary, undergraduate and graduate.
The committee also recommended inclusion of Bangla, English, mathematics and social science, at least up to the higher secondary level, in the syllabus that the Qawmi madrasas follow.
The committee also endorsed a provision for women’s education in the Qawmi madrasa system.
A minister who attended the cabinet meeting on Monday said Hefazat and leaders of Qawmi madrasas had not been involved in the opposition’s recent movement and agitation regarding the polls-time government.
“The leaders of Hefazat and Qawmi madrasas are silent over the current issues. The government is not intending to give the Islamist leaders an issue to hold demonstrations or any movement now. So, the government has decided to put the proposed law on hold for some time,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, another group of Qawmi madrasa teachers and students welcomed the government move to recognise and supervise the Qawmi madrasa education.
Under the banner Qawmi Madrasa Student-Teacher Welfare Council, the organisation at a press conference on Monday said some vested groups were opposing the government move for their own political interest.
Reading out a written statement, its Secretary General Maulana Anisul Islam Mian said: “During the British era, it was necessary for Qawmi madrasas to be out of the government control. But as now Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign country, Qawmi madrasa students and teachers should participate in all the government activities.”
Chairman of the platform Maulana Abdul Latif Chowdhury said they had reviewed the Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Authority Act 2013 and found no such clause that could harm the education system.
“The law will not harm the uniqueness of the Qawmi madrasa education,” he said.
The government does not recognise the certificates that the Qawmi madrasas award the students. As a result, the graduates cannot get mainstream jobs in the country. They mainly work as imams at mosques. Mufti, a Qur’an expert, is the Qawmi equivalent of a mainstream graduate.
The textbooks at Qawmi madrasas are mostly written in Urdu and mainly teach religious conducts, rules, regulations and laws. The students are given elementary lessons on English, Bangla and mathematics.
Although there is no provision for girls to pursue higher studies in the
Qawmi system, in some places, girls are allowed to attend the primary classes.
