The number of general educational institutions, which receive government funds, has increased 9.74 percent against a 22.22 percent growth of madrasas from 2001 to 2005, Bangladesh Economic Review statistics show.

The growth of madrasas got such a boost especially after the BNP-led coalition involving Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Jatiya Party came to power in 2001.

The picture was different during the 1996-2001 rule of Awami League (AL). In the first four years of the AL rule, the number of general educational institutions rose by 28 percent while that of madrasas by 17 percent.

The number of madrasa teachers saw a significant rise in the last four years, compared to those in the general education. Teachers in the schools and colleges marked a 12.27 percent increase against 16.52 percent in the madrasas between 2001 and 2005.

The number of students in general educational institutions rose 8.64 percent while the madrasas saw a 10.12 percent rise in enrolment during this period. But the number of students increased sharply during the AL period.

Experts believe madrasas have negligible contributions in creating skilled human resources in the country, still they received on average 11.5 percent of the total education budget in the last few years.

Apart from about 9,000 government-registered madrasas, there are numerous other institutions across the country offering religious education without registration.

The national databank on education compiled by Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) does not have information about these madrasas.

Madrasa Education Board controls the Ebtedayee madrasas, but Qawmi madrasas are totally out of government control, said Professor Iqbal Aziz Muttaki of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University.

The Qawmi madrasas have their own curriculum. Abdul Jabbar, secretary general of Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Board, a private board of these madrasas, told The Daily Star that they have a list of about 15,000 Qawmi madrasas. Jabbar, however, said there are many such madrasas which are not enlisted with the board.

Moreover, Education Minister Osman Farruk told parliament recently that the government is considering giving Fazil and Kamil degrees of madrasas the status equivalent to graduation and master's degrees of general education.

Asked, the minister ruled out any extra favour to madrasa education. "It is not true that the government is promoting madrasa education ignoring the mainstream education."

"Percentage does not always reflect the real situation," Farruk said. He, however, assured that he will examine whether the general educational institutions are not being given due importance.

The education minister, who is not happy with the existing quality of madrasa graduates, said, "It needs modernisation. I feel the madrasa students should learn the same core subjects that the general educational institutions teach up to the higher secondary level."

About the government move to give the Fazil and Kamil degrees equal status of graduation and master's degree of the general education, the minister said, "It is under process."

"We are not upgrading the Fazil and Kamil degrees, rather we will recommend what is needed to make the degrees equivalent to graduation and master's degree," he said.

Opposing the government move, Prof Muttaki said: "Educational institutions are for creating human resources, but the madrasas have failed to do it."

"Contribution of madrasa graduates at the national level is negligible despite some recent moves to update the course curricula of madrasas," he observed.

"Most of the madrasa graduates usually become imams at mosques and a few of them receive general education from universities and colleges," he said.

The researcher said madrasa education seems to be a sensitive issue for all governments who always face a dilemma in taking any drastic step to modernise the madrasa education system or merge it with the mainstream education.

In the last four years, as many as 1,720 general educational institutions (schools and colleges up to the higher secondary level) were set up, raising the total to 19,370.

On the other hand, a total of 1,618 new madrasas were established during the period. The number of madrasas across the country is now 8,897.

The number of teachers in the general education has grown by 25,882 pushing the total to 2,36,813, while that in madrasas has increased by 18,167, taking the total to 1,28,084.

The number of students in schools and colleges rose to 89,28,227 with an increase of 7,10,531 in the last four years. On the other hand, the number of madrasa students rose by 3,30,899 during the period to stand at 35,97,453.

During 1996-2000, the number of general educational institutions rose by 3,694 to reach 16,882 while that of madrasas reached 7,122 with an increase of 1,022 institutions.

The number of teachers in the general education during the AL regime grew by 30,911 pushing the total to 1,98,521, while in madrasas, the number of teachers increased by 10,967, taking the total to 98,089.

The number of students in general educational institutions rose by 19,54,316 to stand at 77,97,163 while in madrasas the number of students increased to 29,59,867 with an addition of 10,84,950 during 1996-2000.

Growth: madrasas vs general educational institutions
1996-2000		2001-2005
Institutions	General 28%, Madrasa 17%	General 10%, Madrasa 22%
Teachers	General 16%, Madrasa 13%	General 12%, Madrasa 17%
Students	General 33%, Madrasa 58%	General 9%, Madrasa 10%
Source: Bangladesh Economic Review
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