bdnews24.com :
Bagatipara Women’s Madrasa in Natore had 15 candidates for Dakhil exam this year. Not a single student sat for the exam as all of them were married off during the pandemic disruption.
Abdur Rauf, the superintendent of the madrasa, expressed frustration that no one from his educational institution took part in the examinations, which started on Nov 14.
“The coronavirus has been devastating,” he said. The girls were spending free time at home in this lockdown. All 15 students got married and didn’t take part as their families were reluctant about the exam.”
Every year, 9-10 students from the madrasa take part in the Dakhil examination. Most pass.
This year is an exception, said Abdur Rauf, whose own daughter was among the 15, as he broke down in tears.
He said that he admitted his own daughter to the madrasa to boost the morale of other students. He also paid for her Dakhil application with his hard-earned money. His daughter and 14 other girls from the madrasa chose to apply for the Dakhil examination.
But, soon after the forms were filled, the madrasa was closed due to the pandemic. During the long break time, Rauf’s daughter married a man of her own choosing and left to live with him and his family.
Rauf said he did not know the situation of the other girls. After the recent reopening of the
madrasa, he contacted their families and learned they had all been married off as well.
Rauf said he had still hoped that they would take part in the test. That is why he collected the admission slips for the examination centre and delivered them to the students’ homes. But not a single madrasa student appeared for the test on Nov 14.
According to the madrasa superintendent, most of them had left their family homes and had started living with their in-laws.
When he contacted a few of them over the phone, they said they were not interested in continuing their studies after their marriages.
Some of these victims of child marriage did not take part in the exam voluntarily, while others were barred by their family.
A parent of a student at Bagatipara Women’s Madrasa said their daughter was not doing well in school.
She was married off to a good suitor and the husband and his family were not interested in her taking the test, they said.
An examinee from Baroipara Village said that she got married at the beginning of the lockdown and did not go to the madrasa a single day after the marriage.
There wasn’t a proper environment for her to study at home, so it was not possible for her to take the test, she said.
The examinees were to sit for the exam at the Perabaria Dakhil Madrasa examination centre.
Ibrahim Hossain, secretary of the centre, said 98 students from five madrasas at his centre were scheduled to take part in the exams. But, as 15 candidates from Bagatipara Women’s Madrasa are missing, 83 students from four madrasas are taking part in the exams at the centre.
The three buildings of Bagatipara Women’s Madrasa lay abandoned on Saturday morning. There were no students in the classrooms and the weeds nearby had grown large and unruly.
Superintendent Rauf said that, despite his best efforts, the madrasa has not received government approval and has become tough to manage as a result.
Students are being taught for free in the hope that the government will grant it recognition, but teachers do not want to stay in jobs at such institutions without pay for extended periods of time.
