The previous administration had made no attempt to find out what was being taught at madrasas or prevent them from mushrooming without any registration, Minister of Education, Prof. G.L. Peiris said.

Prof Pieris said that currently about 2,000 madrasas were operating in the country.

“The previous government did not care to find out what was taught in those schools or who was teaching there. During the yahapanaya administration, nearly 600 foreigners visited the country to teach in the madrasas.”

Prof. Peiris said that when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Defence Secretary, foreign preachers with dubious connections had not been allowed to enter the country. “He ensured that there was good coordination between the officers at the Immigration and Emigration Department and at the intelligence services. During the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, if anyone applied to teach at these institutions, their background was examined thoroughly. The previous government got rid of all these procedures. It issued visas on arrival without conducting any inquiry or asking any questions.”

The issue of madrasas were discussed in depth at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks. Most madrasas were registered with the Registrar of Companies and education authorities had no power to monitor them, former Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis told the PCoI.

Mendis said that by 2016, intelligence agencies had become aware that a number of foreign students were coming to Sri Lanka to study in those institutions.

Mendis said: “Foreign students coming in, is a good thing, but most madrasas are not registered with the Ministry of Higher Education. Former Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne had a number of discussions with the Ministry of Higher Education officials about this.”

The witness said that CNI office and SIS had cooperated to draw up a registration form to obtain information about foreign students who came to Sri Lanka. The form included personal and financial information as well as details about those who sponsored those students.

“SIS director Nilantha Jayawardena drew our attention to the issue and he also sent us a form for ascertaining information. We contacted the Ministry of Higher Education officials but they wanted to talk to the Minister first. We also wanted to create a database of all students that came to study here in religious educational institutions.”

They also took action to monitor and register foreign preachers who visited Sri Lanka.

Mendis also said that during a meeting with senior officials of the Ministries of Buddha Sasana, Hindu, Muslim and Christian Affairs in 2016, it had been proposed that all those ministries be brought under one ministry.