Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday said the government has planned to provide technical and vocational training to Qawmi madrasa students to create employment opportunities for them at home and abroad.
“The government is planning to arrange technical and vocational training for Qawmi madrasa students with a view to creating employment opportunities for them at home and abroad,” he said in parliament, replying to a supplementary question from Comilla-6 constituency lawmaker Monirul Haque Chowdhury during the question-answer session at the beginning of Wednesday’s sitting.
Responding to the written question, Tarique Rahman said a decision was taken in 2006 through a gazette notification to establish a permanent institution titled "Qawmi Madrasa Education Board Bangladesh" to coordinate and develop all qawmi madrasas in the country and conduct public examinations.
Later, under the "Al-Haiatul Ulya Lil-Jamiatil Qawmia Bangladesh", the qawmi Madrasas’ Dawra-e-Hadith (Takmil) Certificate Equivalence to Master’s Degree (Islamic Studies and Arabic) Act, 2018 was enacted, leading to a decision to form six qawmi madrasa education boards.
These are Befaqul Madarisil Arabia Bangladesh, Befaqul Madarisil Qawmia Gawhardanga Bangladesh, Anjumane Ittehadul Madaris Bangladesh, Azad Dini Adara-E-Talim Bangladesh, Tanjimul Madarisid Dinia Bangladesh and Jatiya Deeni Madrasah Education Board Bangladesh.
The prime minister said certificates issued by the six qawmi madrasa education boards had been recognized as the required qualification for appointment to the posts of Assistant Moulvi (Qari) and Ibtedaie Qari, following an amendment to the Private Educational Institutions (Madrasa) Manpower Structure and MPO Policy, 2026 on June 23.
“This has created an opportunity for people holding Dawra-e-Hadith (Takmil) degrees along with certificates in Ilmul Qira’at or Hifzul Quran to be appointed to the two posts,” he said.
Replying to a question from Lakshmipur-2 constituency lawmaker Abul Khair Bhuiyan about religious education, the prime minister said religious education was already included in the regular curriculum.
“You know that religious education is already included in our regular curriculum. However, we can certainly review how it can be developed further,” he said.
Responding to a supplementary question from Kurigram-3 constituency lawmaker Md Mahbubul Alam regarding the nationalization of Ibtedaie madrasas, Tarique Rahman said he would provide a detailed response after receiving a separate notice from the lawmaker.
The parliamentary sitting began at 3:30pm with National Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair. During the first half-hour question-answer session, the prime minister directly replied to four written questions and six supplementary questions.
