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MYSTERIOUS MADRASA

An institution that has a purpose quite different from imparting education

MASUK HRIDOY and WASIM B1N HABIB
From a distance, the red building appears to have been left neglected for a long time.
In front of the one-storey building is a pool of greenish rainwater accumulated on an empty plot. A few steps closer to the six-room building reveal two cows resting inside a room while the remaining rooms are locked.
The name of the curious institution, Fazlul Haque Bohumukhi Mahila Dakhil Madrasa, is painted outside.
Superintendent of the so-called madrasa, Jahangir Alam, said he helped dropouts who wanted an educational certificate before their marriage.
Five students appeared at dakhil exams, equivalent to SSC, this year from the madrasa in the heart of Brahmanbaria's Medda area. All of
them flunked, putting the madrasa in the bracket of the 109 institutions that saw pass rate of zero.
People in the neighbourhood said they never saw any student going to the place, let alone any academic activities.
There are no teachers either, Jahangir Alam, the superintendent, admitted during a phone call with this correspondent on Monday.
this correspondent on Monday.
Dropout girls' parents, who are looking for an educational certificate for their daughters without having to go through the trouble of providing proper schooling, contact him and ask for help, he said.
Jahangir then finds a way to get the girls registered with the Madrasa Education Board as students of Fazlul Haque Bohumukhi Mahila Dakhil Madrasa.
The madrasa, according to records, has been in operation for the last 22 years, said Jiban Kumar Bhattacharya, education officer in Brahmanbaria.
Jahangir says, "I have been enrolling students since 1996. The first batch sat for the exam in 1999."
Initially, the number of students was around 20-25, he said, adding that he would no longer be involved with the madrasa.
As this correspondent wanted to meet him in person, he agreed, but didn't show up on three occasions. His phone was found switched off since then.
This correspondent called the madrasa founder Fazlul Haque last week but he hung up after learning that the caller was a journalist.
According to the Madrasa Education Board, five students took part in the test in 2016. Only two of them passed.
Asked, Prof AKM Saif Ullah, chairman of Madrasa Education Board, said he would look into the matter.
"We served a show cause notice a week ago to each of the 96 madrasas where no student had passed and asked them to come up with rational explanation in 21 days," he told The Daily Star.
He added that measures would be taken if the institutions failed to provide "satisfactory reasons" behind their lack of performance.
The chairman also said of the 96 madrasas, there was only one student each in 15 while 14 other madrasas had about 2 or 3 students.
“We will definitely take action."