Keeping in mind the goal of educating all, the government has envisioned a massive initiative using mosques and madrasas and targeting school dropouts to achieve 100 percent literacy rate in the country. The religious affairs ministry has undertaken a Tk 4,556 crore project with an aim to reduce the number of dropouts from the elementary level and thus ensure 100 percent enrolment at primary schools.
The project proposal will be placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting this month for approval, a highly placed source at the planning ministry said. “The project titled 'Mosque-based Children and Mass Education Activities (7th Phase)' has been sent to the Planning Commission to provide pre-primary and Quran education to reduce dropouts,” he added.
Sources concerned said using the countrywide infrastructures of mosques, kids living in adjacent areas would be brought to the places of worship to be taught in line with National Education Policy. Apart from these, the project also targets to stop dropping out of children at the primary level and increase enrolment percentage.
The project aims to provide basic Quran, religious and pre-primary education to children across the country to utilise the mosques as centres for all pro-people development activities, he said. Besides, it aims to create awareness about development activities, humanity, morality and social safety network among them, he mentioned.
The religious affairs ministry has undertaken a massive plan to bring a total of 1,33,92,250 students under pre-primary and Quran education, he informed. Under the project, 48 lakh students will get pre-primary education through 32,000 Pre-primary Education Centres while 76.12 lakh school going and dropout students would get Quran teaching through 46 thousands Easy Quran Teaching Centres across the country.
On the other hand, 8.83 lakh students would get religion-based education from 1010 Darul Arqam Madrasas while 96 thousands male, female and teenagers would also get literacy and religious education from 768 Adult Education Centres in the country.
Two madrasas will be operated in every upazila of the country for the project. The government expects the project will help create employment, remove poverty and increase capacity of Alem-Ulama of the country. The students will get textbooks used in Darul Arqam Madrasas approved by National Textbook Curriculum Board as per the National Education Policy-2010.
Besides, books prepared by Islamic Foundation will be used for providing education under the project.
