The government will set up a separate directorate for the country’s madrasas to bring discipline into the religious education system.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told the Dhaka Tribune the ministry had finalised the decision and got approval of other ministries concerned.
“We have finalised a decision to set up a separate directorate for the madrasas to bring their education into discipline,” Nahid said.
“Efforts are underway to ensure that the madrasa students read Bangla, English and other basic subjects along with religious and Arabic books. Setting up a separate directorate for madrasas will help us implement the decision.”
He said this would also help the government to monitor madrasas properly.
Asked when the directorate will start operation, he said the ministry was working on this, and everything would be completed soon.
Only the Alia madrasa would come under the new directorate.
The Education Ministry officials, however, told the Dhaka Tribune one of the purposes to set up the directorate was to bring the Qawmi madrasas to a monitoring system as well, but that might take some time.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), there are 9,441 Alia madrasas in the country and 2,247,983 students read there. These madrasas have 107,728 teachers.
Bangladesh has mainly two kinds of madrasas – Alia and Qawmi. In Alia madrasa, students read Bangla, English, Mathematics and other basic subjects along with religious subjects.
The Alia madrasas deserve recognition of imparting education up to degree level, meaning that after passing Alim (HSC), Fazil (Degree) students can enter general education system.
In Qawmi madrasa, students mainly read religious and Arabic subjects. At present, some Qawmi madrasas have general subjects till class eight.
At present, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education monitors Alia madrasa.
This directorate monitors school, college and madrasa education system.
The madrasa teachers and students want that the government set up a separate directorate to meet their demand.
The government formed an education commission for Qawmi madrasas to monitor the education system there and the commission report was approved in April, 2012.
The Education Ministry also issued a gazette notification on this.
But in the face of protest by the Qawmi madrasa teachers, the commission report was not implemented.
