A bill was placed in parliament last night aimed at recognising top Qawmi madrasa degree Dawra-e-Hadith equivalent to the post graduate degree in Islamic studies and Arabic.

Placed by Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, the bill was sent to the parliamentary standing committee concerned for further scrutiny.

The committee was asked to submit its report within seven days.

Jatiya Party lawmaker Fakhrul Imam strongly opposed placing of the bill as MPs got only 10 minutes for going through the proposed law.

Pointing to the rules of procedure of parliament, he said usually a bill should be placed in the House giving seven days time to MPs so that they can work on the proposed law properly.

“I, therefore, urged the minister to withdraw the bill and place it again after giving necessary time to lawmakers,” he added.

The JP MPs also drew attention of Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury to this end.

In reply, Shirin said as the Speaker, she has the power to give permission to place any bill within short notice considering its emergency.

The proposed law was designed on the basis of the gazette notification the education ministry published on April 13, 2017 recognising the Dawra-e-Hadith degree.

The Qawmi education has six tiers, starting from Ibtedaiyah (primary) to Dawra-e-Hadith.

The bill will have retrospective effect and those who have so far acquired Dawra-e-Hadith degree after its recognition in April 2017 will be considered as the master's degree holders.

On August 13, the cabinet approved in principle the draft of a law framed to recognise the top Qawmi degree.

The proposed law will bring some 15 lakh Qawmi madrasa students under the mainstream education system.

On April 11 last year, the prime minister had announced that Dawra certificate would be recognised as equivalent to master's degrees.

Two days later, the education ministry issued a circular to this end.

Besides, it had formed a committee led by Hefajat-e Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi, also the chairman of Befaqul Madarisil Arabia Bangladesh, to facilitate the recognition.

In parliament yesterday, Nahid said it is necessary to pass the bill as for this, students holding Dawra degree will be able to seek jobs meant for master's degree holders.

But earlier, talking to The Daily Star after the cabinet's approval of the draft, Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University Serajul Islam Choudhury said the quality of their (Qawmi's) education doesn't match with that of mainstream education.

He added that people will raise questions about the standard of the degrees in both formats. “The degree in mainstream education has been undermined through this move.”

However, Islamic thinker Maulana Farid Uddin Masoud had thanked the government saying through the honour and dignity that have now been given, the students of Qawmi madrasas will be able to get jobs. 

The country's madrasa system is divided into two categories -- Alia and Qawmi.

Alia madrasas, registered with and supervised by Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board, offer a distinctive combination of modern and religious education.

Qawmi madrasas, on the other hand, have so far been an uncharted territory with no government monitoring, supervision or support. They are run mostly with private donations.

There are about 14,000 Qawmi madrasas across the country, according to last year's report of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics.