Ministry orders shutdown of 'peace' schools

The education ministry has asked the home ministry to shut down the “unapproved peace schools” immediately.

The ministry has issued the directive in an office order recently, said a press release yesterday.

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“We have taken the decision as the educational institutions have no approval from the government,” Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told The Daily Star yesterday evening.

“No institute can run without following rules and regulations,” he said.

The Peace International School Lalmatia branch in the capital, however, has government approval.

The ministry in a separate order has asked the Dhaka Education Board to cancel the approval of the school for “its involvement in controversial activities”, said the ministry's press release yesterday.

“We have asked the Dhaka Education Board to explain how the school's Lalmatia branch got approval. We will take further steps on this matter after investigating into it,” Nahid said.

Seeking anonymity, several officials of the education ministry said the decision to shut down the schools had been taken following intelligence and news reports that the schools' curriculum promoted religious extremism.

In response to a query, a senior official of the education ministry told The Daily Star, “As we did not approve them [peace schools], we have nothing to do with them. These unapproved schools must be closed with the force of law enforcers. That's why we have made the call to the home ministry.”

Asked how the unapproved schools had been running so far, he said they were running due to lack of government monitoring.

On May 22 following a meeting of the cabinet committee on law and order, the government asked law enforcement agencies to keep an eye on the network of “peace school and colleges” across the country, according to news reports. 

The government came up with the directive after the meeting at the home ministry which discussed an intelligence report on the operation of “peace schools”, said meeting sources.

The intelligence report said around 27 “peace schools” in six districts were being run by pro-Jamaat-e-Islami men and a portion of their income was being spent on the party's organisational activities.