All registered Ebtedayee madrasas to be nationalized

 
SM Masudul Haque, joint secretary of Technical and Madrasa Education Division under the Ministry of Education, has agreed to nationalise all registered 1,519 independent Ebtedayee madrasas in phases. He went to Shahbagh where protesting madrasa teachers took position and condemned the police's use of water cannons and charging batons at protesters two days ago.

"We've addressed your six-point demand and several other matters in addition," he said.

"At first, on the issue of nationalising all the Ebtedayee madrasas -- all of them will gradually be done so. All of the six points have been accepted. We'll begin working on MPO from 2025."

Earlier, a 15-member team of protesters met with officers of the Technical and Madrasa Education Division at the Secretariat. The decision was finalised in the meeting.

Following the meeting, Mokhlesur Rahman, the convener of the movement, arrived in Shahbagh and said: "We've held discussions for a long time. A representative team from the government is on their way. They told us that our demands are reasonable."

Soon after that, Masudul arrived and made the announcement.

On Sunday, protesting madrasa teachers gathered in front of the Press Club and set out on a march from there towards the Chief Advisor's Office to present a memorandum.

When the procession reached Shahbagh, police dispersed them using batons, teargas, and water cannons. Since then, the protesters have occupied a part of the road in front of the Public Library.

On Monday, the agitating teachers gave the interim government 10 hours, until Tuesday noon, to nationalise independent Ebtedayee madrasas.

They warned if their demands are not met, they will surround Shahbagh Police Station and the home ministry and mass in Dhaka.

The demands of the Ebtedayee Madrasa teachers are: Withdrawal of the 2008 suspension order on the formation of a standalone Ebtedayee Madrasa Board; drafting policies dedicated for madrasas; assigning code numbers to existing registered institutions; approval of regulations for proper state recognition and financial benefits for teachers; recruiting office assistants like in government primary schools; approval of the pre-primary education system in Ebtedayee madrasas.

>>Agency