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Viewing cable 09DHAKA233, BANGLADESH: SOME UNREGULATED MADRASSAS OPEN TO

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09DHAKA233 2009-03-04 10:54 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Dhaka
VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKA #0233/01 0631054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD397558 MSI3944-695)
O 041054Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8404
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2002
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
UNCLAS DHAKA 000233 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINS PTER EDU BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: SOME UNREGULATED MADRASSAS OPEN TO 
GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT 
 
------ 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1. (SBU) PolOff visited three madrassa religious schools not 
regulated by the government on 2/24 and found educators 
willing to accept some official oversight. They all expressed 
deep concern that without adopting government-approved 
curricula their students would continue to fail to qualify 
for mainstream institutions of higher education and face 
bleak job prospects. The visits suggested that Post's 1207 
proposal to support increased government regulation and 
oversight of madrassas would have a receptive audience among 
the targeted schools. Helping the Government of Bangladesh 
introduce an official secular curriculum to non-regulated 
religious schools should help reduce the allure of Islamic 
extremism by expanding opportunities for students to become 
productive members of society. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
QUOMI MADRASSAS: FILLING THE GAPS IN EDUCATION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
2. (SBU) Qawmi madrassas are non-regulated private religious 
schools that do not receive government support, in contrast 
to Alia madrassas, which are nominally state-regulated and 
receive some state funding. (Note: "Qawmi" is just one of 
several alternative spellings for the non-regulated 
madrassas. End note.) Estimates of the number of Qawmi 
madrassas in Bangladesh range widely from 23,000 to 57,000; 
their frequent offers of free room, board and tuition are 
hard for many parents in this poverty-stricken country to 
turn down. Still, murky funding, sometime inflammatory 
teaching materials, and -- in some cases -- connections with 
radically conservative elements indicate the Government of 
Bangladesh has abdicated an important role by failing to 
regulate the Qawmi madrassas. Perhaps even more important, 
Qawmi madrassa courses typically do not prepare students with 
marketable skills and leave them unqualified to enter 
mainstream institutions of higher education. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
QAWMI EDUCATORS ACKNOWLEDGE CURRICULUM PROBLEMS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
3. (SBU) PolOff on 2/24 visited three all-male Qawmi 
madrassas in Rajshahi city and its environs in northwest 
Bangladesh. All three campuses appeared tranquil and their 
senior educators were exceedingly friendly. The first, Jamia 
Islamia Shah Makhdum Madrassa, is in central Rajshahi along 
the banks of the slow-moving Padma (Ganges) River. Orphans 
and children from poor families account for most of its 232 
students; school funding comes from community contributions 
and monthly donations from an affiliated, prosperous shrine. 
The second, Rajshahi Darul Ulum Madrasa, has only 32 
students, a drop from more than 300 caused by a sharp 
downturn in support from local benefactors due to tough 
economic times. The fish pond and mango grove that provide a 
pastoral setting for the rural school, a 10-minute drive 
outside Rajshahi, generate income to keep the school from 
closing. The third, Kaderia Bakhshia Anwarul Ulum Madrassa, 
has 150 students living on its sprawling campus next to a 
children's amusement park. Donations from followers of an 
Islamic saint buried on the madrassa grounds, including some 
from India and Pakistan, supplement student fees of about $6 
a month for tuition and food. 
 
4. (SBU) Principals and headmasters from all three madrassas 
decried the dearth of job and education opportunities 
awaiting their students. Mufti Shahadat Ali, principal at the 
madrassa on the Padma, said most of his graduates became 
religious teachers. None had gone on to university except a 
few who first attended a government-regulated Alia madrassa. 
Principal Saifuddin at the rural madrassah, which provides 
education through seventh grade, said the only options for 
his students were to move on to another madrassa or become a 
religious teacher. "There aren't many choices," he said while 
twirling his black-and-gray beard. "Many people are losing 
interest in sending their children to Qawmi madrassas," added 
Mazhrul Islam, headmaster at the third school. "It's hard to 
get jobs." 
 
5. (SBU) All three madrassas have incorporated at least some 
non-religious courses into their curriculum, most commonly 
Bangla language, English, mathematics, science and social 
studies. Jamia Islamia madrassa said it offered 
 
 
extracurricular computer courses to its eldest students as 
well. But the quality of the education appeared suspect at 
best. The English textbook for fifth grade students at Jamia 
Islamia used colonial-era language and was a jumble of poor 
grammar and punctuation. At Kaderia madrassa, a 12-year-old 
who said, in Bangla, that his favorite class was English did 
not appear to understand simple questions asked by PolOff. 
Even when prompted in Bangla, he did not say a single word in 
English. 
 
6. (SBU) To varying degrees, educators at all three schools 
expressed a desire to come under state guidance. Although 
they expressed concern that adopting government curriculum 
could dilute the Islamic education, they said they had no 
other recourse. "We fear losing some of the emphasis on 
religion," acknowledged Mazhrul Islam. Yet he said 
administrators of his madrassa decided in January to convert 
to a government-regulated Alia school. He explained: "We are 
trying to educate our children in the Koran and Hadith (the 
words and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad), but we also want 
them to get government jobs and other opportunities." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
CONCLUSION: A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR 1207 SPENDING 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
7. (SBU) While visits to three Qawmi madrassas admittedly can 
provide only anecdotal insight, there can be little doubt 
that many unregulated religious schools are receptive to 
government oversight. Madrassa receptivity to curriculum 
reform will be gauged during a March visit by three American 
Islamic educators. Post's 1207 proposal is designed to 
support increased regulation of Qawmi madrassas by, among 
many steps, introducing a minimum secular curriculum and by 
training oversight boards. The proposal would focus on the 
Rajshahi region, where Islamic extremist groups typically 
have made the strongest inroads. Upon leaving the Jamia 
Islamia madrassa, PolOff was surprised when the principal 
engulfed him in a warm, five-second bear hug. That's at least 
one madrassa educator who does not find distasteful the 
prospect of USG assistance in helping establish a credible 
secular curriculum. 
MORIARTY