Qawmi madrasa curriculum outdated

Qawmi madrasas are beset with problems, including having an outdated curriculum and madrasa graduates being unable to gain employment as easily as graduates of regular schools, said a strategy paper.
The paper titled "Modernisation of Madrasa Education in Bangladesh: A Strategy Paper" of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) launched yesterday at a ceremony at BEI's conference room in the city's Gulshan.
Another BEI's strategy paper titled "Public Information: The role of Intelligence Agencies in Bangladesh" was also launched. Australian High Commissioner Dr Justin Lee launched the papers. BEI prepared the papers under a project "BEI Peoples Peace Building Programme" in association with Australian High Commission.
The paper said there is a gulf of differences between the content of the curriculum and what is actually taught in the madrasa, and stressed the need for more engagement and dialogue with students and other stakeholders to drive home of inadequacies and lacunae in the quality of education.
Qawmi madrasas' curriculum or pedagogy per se does not propagate militancy, it added.
It also said the societal negative stereotypes about madrasas reflect overall poor quality or education, teaching, inadequate government support for the madrasa sector and lack of proper appreciation of the society about madrasa.
The overall employability of madrasa graduates is lower compared to general education graduates, it said, adding that the scope of employment for Qawmi madrasa graduates is extremely limited mainly because of the curriculum and non-recognition by the government.
To make Aliya graduates competitive, it suggested to undertake crash programmes for promoting expertise in three areas--science subjects including IT, commerce or business and English.
It also said training of the teacher and curriculum development should be given utmost priority. Qawmi madrasas should be engaged in dialogues for their incorporation in the framework of the current education policy.
The paper suggested that madrasa modernisation should be carried out as an integral part of national education policy and be part of modernisation of education sector as a whole.
Apart from upgrading the curriculum and pedagogy, infrastructural development including classrooms and co-curriculum activities should be initiated, it said.
BEI President Farooq Sobhan said the government is preparing a counter terrorism strategy and these papers would serve as important input to that initiative.
Humayun Kabir, senior research director of BEI, gave a presentation on the strategy paper of modernisation of madrasa while Shahab Enam Khan, project director of BEI, presented another one.