Anatomy of madrassah

Unfortunately, the village environment was not as simple as expected. The tentacles of militancy seemed to be creeping in. Voluntary madrassahs are a common part of the village society. A new quomi madrassah was being set up hardly hundred meters from the house where I spent the vacation and it was altogether a different cup of tea! Within six months they got land; built the main single storied dormitory with toilet, washrooms and tube-well. Sixty plus students lived there and it was already functioning! More structures like office and other facilities were being put up; all under the auspices of invisible kind hearted donors! The kindness of their heart however was something to worry and wander about! The land was supposed to be a donation, and registered as such; the owner (a needy villager) who donated the land was however given more than the fair price of the land; of course off the record. To expedite the construction, earth for filling, constructing the semi pacca structure all was done at speed with more than satisfactory payments being made. Possibly time was of essence.

The head Moulvi, and some seniors (students?) who also coached; were mostly from outside the district! The head Moulvi was paid over Tk. 12,000 per month which in that remote village was more than one can dream of as regular pay!

To showcase their capabilities they put up a short talent display for the unaware like us. On enquiry it transpired that Arabic and Urdu (!) were the main subjects taught! On being pressed, they agreed that Bengali, English and Mathematics were also a part of the curriculum; although no syllabus or books on the subject were seen, or could be produced!

However the ladies of the visiting families were cajoled and impressed by the young well-tutored children during house calls, to donate the skins of the sacrificial animals as also some cash for the welfare and education of the needy orphans! Some of us lightened our purse with cash or promises for supporting the needy orphans. I was the sole skinflint among the lot, as the whole edifice appeared questionable to me, and the purpose of the institution apart from producing semi-skilled Arabic and Urdu students appeared a pointless exercise. In contrast the ramshackle state of the nearby high school without such magnanimous and anonymous donors was something to be pitied! I gave my pledged annual donation to the school providing support for a number of needy students of different classes to help their educational effort. However finance-wise, and organisation-wise the High School was no match for the fast developing quomi madrassah with an open purse string!