Qawmi madrasa students being deprived of higher education for fear of losing control

The Qawmi madrasa students are being deprived of higher education because the authorities are reluctant to join the education mainstream for fear of losing control.

The Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Board (Befaq), however, was unconcerned about the problem.

A ninth-grade student of a Qawmi madrasa in capital Dhaka’s Jatrabarhi said he was unable to leave the Qawmi madrasa despite his wish to do so.

“I have tried several times but could not enrol in the ninth grade as I had no PSC and JSC certificates,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“The only option is to start all over again.”

The scope of Qawmi students enrolling at general madrasa (Aliya) was suspended with the beginning of the Ebtedayee examination in 2010.

The Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board Acting Chairman AKM Saif Ullah said a small number of students enrolled in the Aliya madrasas only to sit the Ebtedayee exams.

“Before the introduction of Ebtedayee exams, many Qawmi students used to get admission in different grades of Aliya madrasas to appear for the SSC exams,” he said.

“But now the system requires certificate for admission in sixth and higher grades.”

Asked, Befaq Secretary General Abdul Jabbar Jahanbadi admitted the problem.

“It is true that many of our students earlier took admission in Aliya madrasas for higher degrees but cannot do so now.”

He, however, declined to say what steps were being taken to make that possible.

About two million students read in 5,002 Qawmi madrasas across Bangladesh, according to the board statistics.

Among them, 909 are madrasas for girls.

A student at an Uttara madrasa said, “We are not only unable to take general education, but are out of step with the times.”

He said, “In the digital age, teaching methods here is far behind analogue.”

He said the authorities should accept government control if it improved quality.

In a recent article in bdnews24.com, former Bangladesh Bank Governor Mohammed Farashuddin stressed the need for change in the Qawmi madrasa curriculum.

The government should fund their vocational training in addition to the existing curriculum, he said.

However, the Qawmi education regulators fear the stream of religious education would be greatly hampered if they came under government control.

“We can’t embrace general education despite government proposal,” Befaq Secretary General Jahanbadi said.

“This is an issue of morality.”

He said they would not sit with the government if it did not believe that the Qawmi stream was playing a vital role in society.

“We can’t take government funds if it wants to control us. Religion does not obey anyone’s orders.”

He said, “The government can at best supervise us, but we don’t want to be ‘controlled’.”

About the quality of the curriculum, he said, “The quality may not be as good but you can’t throw it out.”

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said, “We are trying to bring Qawmi madrasas to the mainstream. We want to support them.”

He said a commission on Qawmi madrasa had submitted a report and the matter was being discussed.