Parliament on Wednesday enacted the Islami Arabic University Bill 2013 to bring all bachelor and master level madrasa courses under a single institution.
The House also amended the Village Court Act 2006, inserting a provision for fine for filing false cases. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid tabled the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Maritime University Bill 2013 for setting up a maritime university at Anwara of Chittagong.
The House passed the Islami Arabic University Bill – by voice vote in the absence of the main opposition BNP – to set up a university to supervise Fazil (bachelor) and Kamil (master) courses of madrasas, which are now conducted by Islamic University Kushtia.
Defending the bill, Nahid told parliament that Islamic scholars had placed the demand for a separate Arabic university 78 years ago.
The Islami Arabic University will be temporarily housed at the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers’ Training Institute in Gazipur and will have the authority to give affiliation to madrasas, and recognise, approve and cancel academic courses.
The medium of instruction for education of the university will be Bangla, and Arabic and English in some cases.
The proposed maritime university near the Marine Academy aims at creating skilled mariners.
The amendment to the Village Court Act – also passed by voice vote – provides for a fine of Tk2,000 for filing false cases and Tk1,000 for undermining the village court. It also increased the financial authority of the court to Tk75,000 from Tk25,000.
