The rule for organizing Qawmi madrasa records: first write a map of jamaat (grades) and departments, then attach each student to exactly one jamaat and, where applicable, a separate department (Hifz, Kitab, Ifta). Jamaat and department are not the same thing — conflating them corrupts both the annual evaluation and the Hifz progress reports.

What to verify: terminology varies and departments multiply

The same word means different things at different institutions. Write your own map before configuring any software:

Term Meaning here Common variation
Jamaat A Dars-e-Nizami grade (Mizan → Hidaya) some say “class”, others “dour”
Department A distinct branch: Hifz, Kitab, Ifta, pre-Hifz Nazrah many treat Hifz as part of a jamaat
Salla The annual evaluation sometimes semester-based

A Hifz student’s daily work (sabaq) differs from a Kitab jamaat’s work. Mixing the two record types in one structure makes it impossible to answer month-end questions like “how much progress did each department make?”

A usable sample: the department map

A mid-size Qawmi madrasa might look like:

  1. Nazrah/Maktab department — Qaida to Ampara; age-based admission, jamaat-style rolls.
  2. Hifz department — Juz-based progress; not a grade but a position (which Juz).
  3. Kitab department — jamaat 1–6, fixed books per jamaat, annual Salla.
  4. Takhassus/Ifta — separate office, few students, ustadh-driven work.

For each department write: who is responsible, who makes daily entries, who sees the reports. Roles in the software must follow the same separation — a Hifz ustadh should not see Kitab accounts, and the office should not be able to edit Hifz scores.

Jamat-department records: workflow steps and limitations

  1. Copy jamaat/department names verbatim from your current registers — do not invent new names in the software.
  2. If one student sits in two departments (Hifz plus general subjects), verify the structure supports it.
  3. Decide how department changes are recorded (Hifz completion → Kitab entry): old history must persist, not disappear.
  4. Limitation: no software understands your muhtamim’s vocabulary automatically. Matching names in week one is the real work.
  5. Verify the Salla format — if a board or council requires a specific report style, ask for it in the demo.

Department records: questions to ask before your demo

  • Can one student sit in the Hifz department while attending a separate jamaat subject?
  • After a jamaat change, do previous Salla results survive?
  • Do we get both per-department reports and one combined report?

To map your structure, see madrasa operations; department-level features are in the madrasha management module, and the Hifz tracking documentation covers Hifz records in detail.

Department records FAQ

Should Hifz be a separate department or a jamaat?

Hifz records are Juz-based; jamaat records are book-based. Separate structures keep both clean — but your institution’s current practice decides.

Should we use Arabic names?

Either way, fix the map in writing first and keep one spelling everywhere — two spellings in the software equal two departments.

Does a small madrasa need this much structure?

Maybe less — but still draw the map. Without even a three-department map you cannot know what to verify in a demo.