The Cabinet has approved a draft of a law to recognise the highest qualifications offered by Qawmi madrasahs as equivalent to general education postgraduate degrees with an aim to bring some 1.5 million students to the mainstream.
The draft of the bill titled 'Making Dawrae Hadith (Takmil) Certificate in Qawmi Madrasah Equivalent to Master's Degree (Islamic Studies and Arabic)' was approved in principle during a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting held at her office in Dhaka. Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat after the meeting, reports UNB.
The Cabinet Secretary said the proposed law was designed on the basis of the gazette notification the Education Ministry published on April 13, 2017 recognising the Dawrae Hadith degree equivalent to master's degrees.
The bill will have retrospective effectiveness and those who have so far acquired Dawrae Hadith degrees after the recognition in April, 2017 will be considered as having the master's degree, he said.
The Cabinet Secretary said there will be a board named 'Al-Haiyatul Ulia Lil-Jamiatil Qawmia Bangladesh' integrating the existing six Qawmi Madrasah education boards in the country.
The chairman of Befakul Madrisil Arabiya Bangladesh (one of the existing six boards) will be the ex-officio chairman of the 17-member integrated board. The board chairman can co-opt one or more persons as the members of the board, but the number of such members will not exceed 15.
Shafiul Alam said the board will prepare syllabus, question papers, conduct examinations and award certificates among the students of Qawmi Madrasah.
Besides, the status of the post graduate degree will be effective for the madrasahs which would be registered under the board.
The cabinet meeting also gave final approval to the draft of "The Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute Bill, 2018 to make the existing law more time befitting.
Besides, the draft of the "Protocol on the amendments to agreement between Bangladesh and Russia on cooperation concerning the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh signed on November 2, 2011" was also approved.
