Madarasa education in Bangladesh

Position of Madarasa education in Bangladesh
Madrasa education in Bangladesh is one of the important streams among three such streams of the education system-(i) General Education, (ii) Technical and Vocational Education (iii) Madaras Education. General and Vocational education streams have mechanisms and institutional arrangements for offering pedagogical training to the teachers of these two streams. A unified education system at the primary and secondary levels is talked about to be adopted instead of segmented education system as it creates exclusive population groups within the same society. The existing segmented streams in primary and secondary education in Bangladesh create socio-economic and intellectual discrepancies which are detrimental to social justice and solidarity. Since it Is not possible to change the systems over night, the curriculum needs to be prepared coordinating the different streams. The education commission and education policy view madrasa education in this way.
Madaras education in most cases put much emphasis on religion, theology and religious dogma. Relgion is not impractical. So, we cannot say that impractical education is imparted in madrasa. But it is true that science and technological education gets less importance in madarasa. People educated in madarasa education may not be technically sound but they prove to be very honest as they fear God which is the main teaching of this stream.The popular writer Anisul Haque ( The additional editor of the Prothom Alo) actually was an engineer. Once in his seminar at BRAC University he told us that BUET produces a huge amount of awfully brilliant chaps in the country. Even then, why so miserable condition we face in the country. Where have those brightest sons gone? He also mentioned a census was done in the BUET campus. It reflected how many BUET students would not take bribe in their professional life. Eighty eight percent students responded directly that they would take bribe. Only four percent was against the motion and the rest did not respond.
We are producing very bright and academically sound candidates who will take bribe that means steal the national and individual wealth in a different or so-called sophisticated way. Whereas the madrasa students are taught in such a way that they are fully answerable to God and all of their actions and reactions of every moment are looked upon by the Creator. So, they don’t dare to commit any crime usually. It leaves little room for criticism when we see that our most potential sons who study in the country and their educational expenses are mostly borne by the state boldly and precisely say that they would take bribe . Many of them leave the country depriving the country and countrymen of their best talent. Their talents are exploited and used in developed countries. Madarasa students hardly go abroad . they remain in the country and serve the countrymen, invite the common people to the path of Allah. Their demand and expectation from the society and nation is very meager. As their expectation is negligible, they hardly nod themselves down to committing crimes like many university students. We can hardly record any incident of madrasa students to embroil themselves in tender business and admission business by the students of our higher education institutions. So, we have very little scope to castigate madarasa education highlighting the secular education. Yes, the mission and purpose of secular education is noble but what happens actually. But what we actually see and experience? Look at Dhaka university , Rajshahi and Chittagong university.
Again, madarsa education contributes a great deal to make the ‘illiteracy free campaign’ a success. The already religious minded people send their wards to education centres and feel encouraged to send them to a place where religious education dominates. The government efforts may not reach everywhere and all to spread the light of literacy. In this respect, madaras education helps a lot. NGOs may not have access to all community as there lays an enigma about NGO run schools. Madrasa can enter there. The significant contribution is made through ibtedai madrasas in providing elementary education in areas where no government primary schools are not available; these ibtedai madrasas are now acting as feeder institutions for both the Alia and Quomi madrassas. More than 50 percent of students in Quomi madrassas and 70 in Alia madrassas come from ibtedai madrassas.
The national government supported Islamic education at several levels. In the late 1980s efforts were being made to modernize the madrasa education system and to introduce secular subjects in the madaras curriculum under the Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board. There are primary, secondary and postsecondary madrasas which expect for one in Sylhet run directly by the government, were attached to mosques and dependent on public charity and endowments. Mostly these institutions had poor physical facilities and equipment. The objective of madrasa education during the third five year plan was to modernize the system through the introduction of science course. Madrasa graduates usually assumed posts as imams at mosques or become teachers at nominally secular schools. Traditionally they often would take up both occupations, since many primary schools were located in village mosques. There are also elementary madrassas known as maktabs, or ibtedai madrassas. First formally approved by President Ziur Rahman in 1978. The subsequent governments patronized this stream of education and as an upshot of their efforts, madaras witnessed gradual development towards modernization. Modernization of these religious schools is a must. The present government also realizes the reality of this education and works for its modernization.
Now –a- days madrasa education is not absolutely confined to religion only. Many general subjects have been included in its curriculum and syllabi. The students coming from poor and middle class families receive religion and general subjects. An overwhelming majority of the madrasa students come from poor families who cannot afford to send their children to modern schools because first in most areas modern schools do not exist at an accessible distance and second the schools are either too expensive or too crowded. One census says that 82 percent learners of these religious schools come from poor families of rural areas and small towns. Sylhet, Chittagong and some northern districts have traditionally been the main base of recruitment for the Qoumi madrasa. The student bodies of the Alia madrasa system is much more diverse and includes a large number of students form the lower middle classes as well.
The social significance of the madrasa education lays not only the fact that it imparts religious education to a large number of students but that it also ensures access to employment. It has been observed that while there has been considerable unemployment among the youth educated at secular schools and colleges, the graduates of madrasa have really faced such problems and unusually find jobs commensurate with their training.

Although the madaras system of education remains an exclusive and relatively isolated phenomenon, there are nevertheless powerful economic social and political forces and institutions that cut across socio-economic and cultural strata and tend to create new linkages, howsoever weak, between the traditional and modern sectors.
Modern type madrasa may pave the way for some integration, even at a very small scale. One is the establishment of madrasa Darur Rashad in Mirpur Dhaka, which gives admission only to college graduates and has a condensed five-year course of Islamic studies. The other is Dhaka Cadet Madrasa which combines all subjects of college education with the usual Islamic subjects, using English as the medium of instruction for general subjects and Arabic for Islamic religious subjects. The quality of the English langue teaching in these two madrasas is far better than that of public or private sector colleges. These madrasas have emerged in response to the increasing demand for English speaking, modern educated ulema to act as imams and khatibs for the Bangladesh expatriate communities in the UK and Norteh America. Another madrasa in Chittagong also use English as the medium of instruction. When madrasas will use English extensively and in a broader scale, the existing negative notion of modern learning and some narrowness harbouring by the teachers and students of these institutions will disappear. The religious schools must embrace most modern learning to evolve the most suitable and effective medium of learning with a view to producing broad and open minded candidates to run the country really honestly and with real love and patriotism.


Md. Masum Billah
Programme Managager: BRAC Education Programme, PACE
10 th floor, BRAC Center, 75, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212.
Cell: 01714-091431
Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com, mmbillah@dhaka.net