A representative for the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Kyrgyzstan has said that four madrasas have been shut down over the past week for failing to obtain proper authorization.
Kushtarbek Mamatov told EurasiaNet.org that the schools were giving lessons without the correct papers and did not appear to know that they needed to register and obtain approval from a government commission.
“They have stopped their activities and sent children home. Now they are collecting all the required documents,” he told EurasiaNet.org.
Mamatov noted, however, that while the madrasas were operating without authorization, there is no evidence they were teaching anything improper.
“They only taught good and useful things there. Now it is simply a matter of legalizing it all. We explained everything to them,” Mamatov said.
The closure of several madrasas took place several days after a nongovernmental organization, the Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations published, a report detailing the need for a radical overhaul to religious education in Kyrgyzstan.
The report found that Kyrgyz madrasas often operate without proper permission and provide poor conditions for their students.
Religious affairs expert Orozbek Moldaliev said that the muftiate has repeatedly been petitioned to take action against delinquent madrasas, but has failed to do so.
“These are basically places that were opened by people who got funding and who are pretending to teach children. But if you barely have an education yourself, how are you going to start teaching others?” Moldaliev said.
Murat Imankulov, a member of a working group on the reform of religious education, said that many children finishing their studies in madrasas often find they are unable to enter the labor market.