A section of ibtedayi madrassah teachers on Saturday announced that they would hold a long march to the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital Dhaka to meet the education minister today, demanding the nationalisation of all ibtedayi madrassahs.
They made the announcement on the 24th day of their sit-in and the sixth day of their fast-unto-death programme in front of the National Press Club in the capital.
They also vowed to continue their hunger strike until the government implements the announcement of the nationalisation of all ibtedayi madrassahs.
Under the banner of the National Independent Ibtedayi Madrassah Teachers’ Unity Front, teachers from across the country began a sit-in in front of the National Press Club on May 21, according to a press release issued by the platform.
Their demands include the immediate nationalisation of all ibtedayi madrassahs registered with the Bangladesh Education Board.
On January 28, 2025, the education ministry announced that the government would nationalise the ibtedayi madrassahs gradually.
The protesting teachers alleged that the announcement remained only on paper and that the Technical and Madrassah Education Division under the education ministry had not nationalised any madrassahs.
They also said that some protesting teachers had already fallen ill, but the government had not contacted them so far.
Leaders of the platform recalled that the government in 1984 recognised the ibtedayi madrassahs and that since 1994, it had provided an allowance of Tk 500 to ibtedayi teachers.
The protesting teachers alleged that the madrassah teachers had no salary, job security or other financial benefits.
From the sit-in, the teachers announced that at 11:00am today they would hold a long march to the secretariat, wearing shrouds, to meet education minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon.
The sit-in programme was attended by the organisation’s president, Maulana Shamsul Haque Ansari, and secretary general Hafez Maulna Mufti Abdul Hannan Hossain.
According to the Bangladesh Education Statistics 2024, published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, there were 4,425 ibtedayi madrassahs in the country in 2023, with 19,099 teachers.
