Bangladesh Mainly Religion Based University Students Oppose Education Law

Bangladesh Ministry of Education

Eight mainly religion-based university and school student organisations have come together in Bangladesh to protest against a proposed education law, which they fear could undermine the country’s Islamic education system, bringing it under secular government oversight.

The law will force religious schools or madrassas to teach a mainstream curriculum and university madrassa education will also be affected as the entire madrassa education system will undergo changes.

The student organisations range from radical groups to student wings of Islamic political parties in the country.

Bangladesh, an officially secular republic, has experienced large rival protests by secularists and Islamic groups in recent years over the role of religion in society.

A number of deaths of intellectuals, bloggers and students by homegrown Islamic extremists in the past two years – most recently on 7 April when a law student at Jagannath University, Nazimuddin Samad, an opponent of radical Islam, was hacked to death by three assailants – has led to calls by mainstream commentators for policies to counter radicalisation in madrassas.

The Ministry of Education posted the draft Education Law 2016 on its website on 3 April, giving only a week’s deadline for public comment.

The student organisations argue that the proposed education law is secular.

“The proposed education law is against the Islamic spirit. If it is not cancelled, we will carry [our] strong movement across the country,” Nasir Uddin Khan, spokesperson of the newly formed platform said at a 24 May press conference in Dhaka, where he also announced a raft of protests including a rally across the country and a demonstration in the capital on 3 June.

Bangladesh's leading educationist and a professor at the University of Dhaka, Professor Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque, said the way the education law is being enacted is not democratic.

"They are seeking comments from us but we fear our objections will not be considered," he said.

He criticised the short time given by the ministry to comment on this. "Only one week was given to comment on this important law. I don't think this is adequate," he said.

Regarding the reform proposal in the madrassa education system, he said that any reform should be done after consulting with the madrassa authority.

"We must remember that they are now a big force. We should not do anything that can destabilise the country," he said.

Compulsory education

The proposed law includes a provision for compulsory education to include two years of pre-primary education and eight years of primary education for all students.

The religious student organisations are mainly against this clause because the Quomi madrassa education system – as the private religious institutions are known – follows its own syllabus, which is very different from the general education system.

The madrassa curriculum is regarded as narrow and often does not award recognised qualifications and certificates, curtailing the prospects of their graduates in the wider economy, although some students continue on to Islamic universities.

The government-funded madrassas, also known as Alia madrassas, cater for two million students and teach mainstream subjects including mathematics, Bangla and English alongside religious instruction, but there is no such requirement for Quomi madrassas.

Alia madrassas are regulated by the government’s Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board, but it has no monitoring role over the Quomi madrassa education system. However, a clause in the proposed law says no private school or madrassa can be established or operated without registration with the relevant authority.

Most Quomi madrassas operate unregistered as there is no government body to oversee them.

The eight organisations opposing the proposed law include Islami Shashontantra Student Movement or Islamic Constitution Movement; Bangladesh Islami Chatra Shamaj, the Bangladesh Islamic Student Association; and Chatra Jomiyot Bangladesh, the student wing of the Assembly of Islamic Clerics.

Others are linked to the caliphate movement including Islami Chhatra Khelafat Bangladesh, the student wing of the Islami Oikya Jote which wants to build an Islamic state; Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Majlis, an Islamist party working for the revival of an Islamic caliphate; and Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan, the student wing of a faction of the country’s caliphate movement.

Bangladesh Jamiat-E-Talaba-E-Arabia, a radical Islamist group; and Bangladesh Anjumane Talamije Islamia, a Sunni extremist group based in the Sylhet district, are also part of the religious students’ platform.

Not mainstream

These student organisations are not mainstream in Bangladesh but have a stronghold in Quomi madrassas which educate an estimated four million students – a decade ago it was less than half that number. The madrassas insist they are funded by donations from the population – often remittances from Bangladesh workers in the Gulf, but significant funding is also thought to come from other countries including Saudi Arabia.

Analysts say there is a serious lack of accountability for the funding as the government is unable to monitor their funding.

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist student organisation Bangladesh Islami Chhattra Shibir, the militant student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Islamist political party, did not join the platform but issued its own statement against the proposed education law.

“The Education Law 2016 is against the spirit of Islam. We are urging the government to cancel it,” said the statement issued 26 May.

A group of Quomi madrassa teachers and students, under the banner of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (Protectors of Islam) and based mainly in rural areas, is also opposing the law, saying if passed, it will mean the end of the Quomi madrassa education system. Hefazat wants Islamic education to be available throughout the country and promotes gender segregation.

A previous move by the government, in 2013, to formulate a regulatory body for the Quomi madrassa sector was halted following countrywide protests by religious leaders.