Draft bill on Madrasa schools before Cabinet today

Tuesday, 7 May 2019 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Cabinet decision in March to amend existing laws to monitor Madrasa schools revised to bring new bill
Proposal includes setting up nine-member Board for regulation
Bill prepared after studying similar laws in India, Bangladesh, and local laws regulating Pirivenas

The first draft of the Madrasa Education Regulatory Bill, to regulate Madrasa schools, is set to be presented to the Cabinet today by Muslim Religious Affairs Minister M.H.A. Haleem.

The draft to be presented on Tuesday proposes to set up a Board of nine members, appointed by the Minister of Muslim Religious Affairs, who will be responsible for the regulation of all Madrasa education once the Act is passed.

The Cabinet, which had initiated the process of drafting legal framework in motion in March, with recommendations to update two existing Acts, fast-tracked the process after the Easter Sunday explosions.

Following discussions, instead of updating existing laws, it was then decided to introduce a new Act to regulate the schools, which have not been properly regulated to date. At present, Madrasa schools function at the private level, with no regulatory mechanism is in place by the Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry or any other.

The draft was presented to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday by Minister M. H. A Haleem, who was advised to work with both the Legal Draftsman and the Attorney General on the matter.

The Cabinet paper which is to be presented will present the first draft of the Bill, which proposes the legal framework to form a nine-member Committee called the Sri Lanka Madrasa Education Board, for organisation, regulation, supervision control, development, and improvement of Madrasa education in the country.

The appointed Board will monitor and regulate the schools and the curricula taught, and put a common system in place. The Bill has been drafted after studying regulations set in place in India and Bangladesh, and the system in place to regulate Pirivena education.