Home ›› 28 May 2022 ›› Front
Qawmi madrasas are unlikely to get any direct allocation in the upcoming budget for the FY2022-23 as was seen in the previous budget.
The children of Qawmi madrasas are always deprived of their rights, including lack of nutritious food, unhealthy environment, paucity of improved sanitation and menstruation hygiene along with their inability to have access to the job market because of lack of modern education.
Though the government has declared that the highest degree holders of such madrasa would be given recognition as equivalent to Master’s Degree of general education they could barely meet the challenges of the modern world with that degree.
Along with the declaration what the government should have done was to insert modern education into the Qwami madrasa system of education to arm them with modern knowledge so that they could compete in the competitive world, many educationists of the country think.
Let alone modernize the Qawmi education the upcoming budget too has neglected such a large section of students with no direct allocation for them adding salt to their injury.
This correspondent found no direct budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Programmes (ADP) of 15 ministries and divisions in the FY 2021-22 and FY2022-23 that can help ensure their rights although some projects would partially fulfill their needs.
There were 525 projects worth 61,343.19 crore for the FY 2021-22 and 494 projects worth Tk85, 233.72 crore for the FY 2022-23.
Deprived of rights enshrined in constitution
The Qawmi children are deprived of many of their rights enshrined in the Article 15, Article 18 (A), Article 17, Article 28, Article 38 and Article 39 in the constitution.
As these children do not study under the national curriculum they are deprived of those rights putting a stumbling block to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The fifteen ministries and divisions are involved in implementing child welfare projects.
The ministries and divisions are the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Technical and Madrasa Education Division, Secondary and Higher Education Division, Medical Education and Family Welfare Division, Health Services Division, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs.
In addition, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Ministry of Social Welfare, Local Government Division, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Public Security Division, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Law and Justice Division are also working to ensure children’s rights.
According to the database of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), there are 19,199 Qawmi madrasas in 2022 while the number was 13,902 across the country in 2010.
With 24.28 per cent girls, there were 13, 98,252 students during the survey.
Now more than 17 lakh children and adolescents are studying under this curriculum, Education Minister Dipu Moni told this correspondent from Switzerland where she was attending the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting.
“There is no fund from the government entity for our children. We want to improve our students’ living standard including quality education,” said Allama Mahmudul Hasan, Chairman of Al Haiatul Ulya Lil-Jamiatil Qawmia Bangladesh.
Planning Minister MA Mannan told The Business Post from London, “There is no budget for the Qawmi children but there are lots of programmes for school and college children. The Finance Ministry can say it better.”
“The government provides stipend, nutritious biscuit, free-of-cost study opportunity, buildings with improved sanitation, home for orphan children, technical and ICT programmes to help them earn skill,” Mannan added.
He said, “Although it is very few but we are trying to reduce inequalities among children.”
No accurate information
Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury told The Business Post that They have to agree first with the national curriculum, then the government will spend public resources but they have not agreed till today.
“At least those children must follow our primary education curriculum as basic education mentioned in the constitution and then they will get budgetary allocation at the primary level,” he added
If they do not follow general or technical curriculum the children do not gain competitive skill to face the challenges of the days to come, he observed.
“We want to include them but it is they who are not interested,” the junior minister added further.
The government recognized Dawra Degree of Qawmi madrasa as equivalent to Master’s Degree but the lower-level education of Qawmi madrasa is yet to be recognized.
“We are trying but they are not interested in aligning with the mainstream education. Even they are yet to be registered. How will they get allocation?” questioned Rasheda K Chowdhury, former adviser to a caretaker government and renowned educationist.
As today’s children will enter employment market they must come under a framework like that of private universities and after that the government can invest on them, she commented.
If the draft education act – 2021 comes into force the government can compel them to follow its curriculum to a certain level of their base-level education, she added.
Qawmi children marginalized
Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Professor Mustafizur Rahman said, “The children are vulnerable and marginalized in the society as some of them are orphans. The state cannot leave a large number of them out of budgetary allocation.”
The government has to ensure minimum level of vocational training, ICT in the madrasa corridor and enhance their linguistic proficiency in Arabic and Farsi so that they can work locally and overseas,” he added.
If the government invests on them, the positive reflection will come from Qawmi madrasa side.
However, it requires a central database to record the number of madrasas and their students, he suggested.
This correspondent found some Qawmi madrasa students working freelance secretly. They are adept at illustration and web design, calligraphy, writing in media as contributors and so on from their madrasa boundary while most of them are barred from doing so.
Insiders say many madrasas set-up on one-storey or two-storey building running some classes. As the lower classes of Qawmi madrasa is yet to be recognized the madrasas are not registered.
After completion the classes from there, students are admitted into bigger madrasa through some simple steps and are registered for the board examination.
Anyone can be admitted into ‘Jalaline or Meshkat’ – honors level - although he/she does not have to face any board exam till ‘Shorhe Bekaya’ – higher secondary level.
As a result, the actual number and scenario are unknown to the government. Even Al Haiatul Ulya Lil-Jamiatil Qawmia Bangladesh, the supreme authority consisting of six Qawmi madrasa education boards, doesn’t know about it, they said.
According to Wifaq, the biggest board under the supreme authority, 2, 25,631 including 1, 22,904 girl students attended exams at five stages while 24,932 students including 9895 girls attend ‘Dawra or Takmil’ exams.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave recognition to Dawra Degree of Qawmi madrasa as equivalent to Master’s Degree on 11 April 2017 at a meeting with some 350 representatives of Qawmi madrasas at Ganabhaban.
