Staff Reporter:
The government is considering the recruitment of around 9,000 religious teachers in primary schools as part of its efforts to strengthen moral and religious education.
Minister for Education and Primary and Mass Education ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon told this in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) yesterday.
Responding to a question raised by Md. Monirul Haque Chowdhury from Cumilla-6, he said the gov-ernment has placed renewed emphasis on primary education and is preparing a number of reforms under a 180-day program initiated by the newly-elected administration.
Milon said primary education had earlier received significant attention during the tenure of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and that the current government is again prioritizing the sector.
The government has already received directives to introduce major changes to the primary education system, with particular attention to strengthening moral values and religious awareness among students, he said.
“Under our ministry, a proposal is under consideration to recruit around 9,000 religious teachers,” Milon told the House.
However, he noted that there are some complications regarding the certification of teachers, particularly those who have studied in the Qawmi madrasa system.
The subject of Qira’at (Qur’anic recitation), which many Qawmi graduates specialise in, does not formal-ly exist in the mainstream madrasa curriculum, creating administrative complexities in recognising quali-fications, the Education Minister continued.
“The ministry is working to resolve these certification issues so that qualified candidates can be recruited as Islamic studies teachers,” he said, adding that religious education would not be limited to Islam alone.
“We are moving forward by giving importance to the religious sentiments of followers of all faiths,” he further said.
Earlier, Md. Monirul Haque Chowdhury raised concerns about what he described as deterioration in the education system over the past 15 to 17 years, despite improvements in school infrastructures.
