Keep an eye on students
Govt asks heads of madrasahs across country
STAFF REPORTER
The government yesterday urged the heads of madrasahs across the country to be alert so that no student could be tempted into joining militancy. The madrasah authorities assured the government that they would assist it in curbing militancy in the educational institutions. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid urged the Islamic scholars in madrasahs to impart the real teachings of Islam so that the young generation is not misguided. The minister was addressing a meeting held to exchange views on Imperatives of Madrasah Teachers to Prevent Militancy, organised by the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (BMEB), at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh in Dhaka. The BMEBs acting chairman, AKM Sayef Ullah, was in the chair.
Nahid urged the teachers and the heads of madrasahs to keep an eye on students and take necessary steps to do whatever was possible to curb militancy. The militant attacks at the Gulshan caf and Sholakia have moved us because the attackers were young people from the affluent class and studied in renowned educational institutions. They were misguided with wrong interpretations of the Quran and Hadith, he said.
The heads of madrasahs and the committees have to take responsibility and keep an eye on students and teachers. Some teachers were found to spread the wrong interpretation of Islam, he observed.
The minister urged them to take regular classes and arrange some extra-curricular activities to maintain an educational environment so that the students did not have enough idle time to think about evil things.
Education secretary Md Sohrab Hossain said the militants are few in number, which can be controlled easily. None of us is safe. Those who are killing people indiscriminately have to be curbed. We will do whatever is possible for us to do, he said.
Additional secretary of the education ministry, AS Mahmud, said, Prevention is better than cure. We need to keep an eye on students activities. Principals and the superintendents of madrasahs should not leave campus unless there is an emergency.
He pointed out that some madrasah teachers leave the campus after taking one or two classes, which has to be stopped. They must stay until the end of the days classes.
We have seen that there is a gap between teachers and students. Teachers should give more time to students besides only taking classes, he said. He also told them to keep an eye on the hostels and halls of the madrasahs and the activities students pursue there.
The additional secretary (madrasah) of the education ministry, SM Ehsan Kabir, said, As you are the alems of the society, you can preach against militant activities in accordance with the Quran. Apart from holding meetings with students, teachers, and guardians to create awareness, inform us if anybody holds any secret meetings in mosques and madrasahs.
The vice-chancellor of Islamic Arabic University, Prof. Dr Mohammad Ahsan Ullah, said, Our duty is to present the right teachings of Quran and Hadith. We have to teach the young generation that Islam cannot be established by killing people.
The director general of Madrasah Education Board, Md Billal Hossain, said, The ulemas and alems are the conscience of the society. They can play a great role in preaching the real teachings of the Quran to curb militancy.
The principals of madrasahs urged the government to formulate a curriculum by including the verses of the Holy Quran and Hadith about what Islam says about militancy so that the students are not misguided.
They also suggested that the complete addresses and telephone numbers of parents or guardians should be recorded during admission, and if any student wanted to leave, the madrasah authority could notify them beforehand.
They said militancy is spreading with the help of an evil culture that needs to be checked. Television channels could broadcast educational programmes against militancy, they suggested.
