Education-management terminology shouldn't intimidate — here's every term in plain language.
The method of recording each student's memorisation progress in a Hifz department — sabaq (new lesson), sabqi (recent revision), manzil (older revision) and daur are tracked separately by Juz and Surah. Digital tracking adds Tajweed scoring and mistake classification.
The portion of Hifz dedicated to revising previously memorised passages — daily repetition that keeps memorised Quran from fading. Without tracked manzil, memorisation does not stay solid, which is why every student's manzil needs its own record.
The standard curriculum of Qawmi madrashas — a book-based progression covering Arabic grammar, fiqh, hadith and tafsir. Madrasha software needs Kitab and Salla (annual evaluation) tracking to support it properly.
Regular evaluation of a student's character and conduct — across categories like honesty, prayer, dress, discipline, peer behaviour, cleanliness and punctuality. A tool for measuring whole-person development beyond exam marks.
Fees not collected by their due date. In manual systems, tracking and chasing dues is the most time-consuming task; in a digital system the dues list updates itself and guardians receive automatic reminders.
The standard accounting method — every transaction is recorded on two sides (debit/credit), so the books self-verify. iilmaa's accounting module posts fee collection this way.
Running multiple campuses or branches of one institution from a single system — each branch's students, attendance, fees and reports visible separately and in combination. Branch staff only ever see their own branch's data.
A software design where core work (attendance, fees, marks) continues without internet — data is stored on the device and syncs automatically when connectivity returns. Essential for Bangladesh's power and connectivity reality.
One of the 30 roughly equal parts into which the Quran is divided for recitation and memorization; a juz (also called para) is further divided into hizbs. Hifz students memorize the Quran juz by juz, so hifz-department progress reports are normally organized by juz number. In iilmaa, hifz progress is recorded by Juz and Surah for every student.
A chapter of the Quran; the complete Quran contains 114 surahs of varying length, each divided into ayahs (verses). Hifz teachers assign the daily sabaq from a specific surah, and revision is often tracked surah by surah. Software like iilmaa records hifz progress by Surah alongside Juz, so the whole department's coverage is visible at a glance.
The new lesson — the fresh portion of Quran (typically a few lines to half a page) that a hifz student memorizes each day and recites to the teacher the next morning. Sabaq, sabqi, manzil and daur together make up the daily hifz routine. In iilmaa, every student's sabaq is recorded by Juz and Surah so nothing depends on memory of the teacher alone.
The recitation of the last few days' sabaq lessons from memory, taken before a student is given a new lesson; it is the 'recent revision' layer of hifz. Regular sabqi is what stops freshly memorized pages from slipping away. iilmaa records sabqi separately for each student, so teachers and guardians can see whether revision is keeping pace with new memorization.
A long, continuous revision session in which a hifz student recites a large portion — often one or several complete juz — from memory, sometimes in a group recitation circle; daur is also the name for the collective revision in Ramadan and final-year hifz classes. It exposes weak memorization that short daily revisions miss. In iilmaa, daur is one of the four tracked hifz activities, recorded per student alongside sabaq, sabqi and manzil.
The set of rules governing correct Quranic recitation — articulation points (makharij), nasalization (ghunnah), elongation (madd) and related rules. In hifz evaluation, recitation is graded not only on memorization but on tajweed accuracy. iilmaa supports Tajweed scoring on a 1–5 scale with mistake classification, so quality is recorded alongside quantity.
A formal certification in which an authorized teacher — holding an unbroken chain (sanad) — certifies that a student has recited or memorized the entire Quran correctly and may transmit it onward. For hifz graduates it is usually the most treasured academic document. iilmaa turns a completed Khatm-e-Quran record into an Ijazah certificate with one click.
The completion of a full reading or memorization of the Quran, marked in madrashas with a completion record and usually a dua or ceremony. In a hifz department, the khatm record is the basis on which the final certificate (ijazah) is issued. iilmaa keeps a Khatm-e-Quran record for each student and generates the completion certificate from it.
A Quran course in which students recite while looking at the mushaf (from 'nazr', sight), aiming at fluent, correct recitation rather than memorization; it usually comes before or alongside early hifz. Nazrah classes follow a daily lesson-and-revision rhythm much like hifz. In iilmaa's Hifz & Quran module, daily Quran lessons are recorded by Juz and Surah.
The beginner's primer — most commonly the Noorani Qaida — that teaches Arabic letters, their pronunciation points and basic joining rules before a child moves to nazrah or hifz. Qaida classes are typically the youngest cohort in a madrasha, often in a separate maktab session. In iilmaa, maktab's youngest students are managed like any other class: admission records, attendance and automatic guardian SMS on absence included.
In the qawmi madrasha context, 'kitab' means the standard Arabic textbooks of the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum, studied year by year from grammar (sarf, nahv) up to hadith and tafsir; the 'kitab department' is the textbook stream, as opposed to the hifz department. Promotion follows the year's kitab and the annual salla exam. iilmaa's kitab syllabus tracking follows per-book progression for both Dars-e-Nizami and Takhassus.
The annual examination of a qawmi madrasha (salla imtihan), often held with centrally set questions under the wifq (board). Salla results decide promotion to the next year's kitab. Salla (annual evaluation) is part of iilmaa's kitab syllabus tracking, so yearly results stay on record with everything else.
The post-graduate specialization stage of qawmi madrasa education, taken after Dawra-e-Hadith — most commonly Takhassus fil Ifta (specialization in issuing fatwas), with parallel tracks in hadith, tafsir and other disciplines. It is the highest rung of the Dars-e-Nizami ladder. iilmaa's kitab syllabus module supports both Dars-e-Nizami and Takhassus levels.
The decentralized madrasa education system of Bangladesh that follows the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum under private boards (wifq), such as Befaqul Madarisil Arabia; it emphasizes Arabic, the Islamic sciences and hifz. Its evaluation and report formats differ from the government board system. iilmaa supports both Qawmi and Alia formats for reports and evaluation.
The government-recognized madrasa system of Bangladesh supervised by the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board, running from ebtedayee through dakhil, alim, fazil and kamil, with a curriculum that mixes Islamic and general subjects. Report cards and grading follow the board's structure. iilmaa supports both Alia and Qawmi report formats.
The Islamic lunar calendar, counted from the Hijra (migration to Medina), whose months begin with moon sighting. Many madrashas run their academic year and Islamic event schedule on Hijri dates rather than Gregorian ones. In iilmaa, the academic year runs on Hijri dates with automatic reminders for important Islamic days.
The specialized department of a qawmi madrasha where students train in Islamic jurisprudence and fatwa-issuing after completing Dawra-e-Hadith; its head is usually called a Mufti. An ifta department answers the community's fiqh questions and keeps records of its fatwas; not every madrasha has one.
The final year of the qawmi Dars-e-Nizami curriculum, centered on the Sihah Sittah (the six canonical hadith collections); graduates receive recognition equivalent to a master's-level qualification (fazilat). Many students continue to Takhassus or Ifta afterwards. In iilmaa, kitab progression through the Dars-e-Nizami stages — dawra included — is tracked book by book.
A subdivision of a class or level when the number of students grows large (for example, Hifz 3 – Section A), each section having its own teacher, room and timetable. Sections keep class sizes manageable without promoting students out of their level. In iilmaa, levels can be split into sections and shifts, and attendance, fees and exams follow the same grouping.
A time-based division of the school day in which the same building and staff serve different student groups — for example, a morning school shift and a noon maktab or hifz shift. Many Bangladeshi schools and madrashas run two or three shifts a day. iilmaa supports levels, shifts and sections together, so mixed timetables are managed in one system.
The serial number assigned to a student within a class or section, used to order attendance registers, marks entry, exam seating and report cards. It keeps records unambiguous even when several students share the same name. In iilmaa, marking and entry run roll by roll — full-class attendance takes about 30 seconds.
The master register that consolidates every student's marks across all subjects and exams into one table, from which grades, GPA and merit positions are computed. Preparing it by hand before results is one of the most error-prone jobs in a school office. iilmaa generates the tabulation sheet automatically from entered marks, and board-format report cards come from the same data.
The document that authorizes a student to sit an exam, carrying name, roll, photo, subjects and the exam schedule; many institutions require it to be presented at every paper. Printing admit cards for the whole institution is a classic last-minute exam-week job. iilmaa generates admit cards from its exam module using existing student records.
The official document an institution issues when a student leaves, certifying the enrollment period, the classes studied and the student's conduct — clearing them to enroll elsewhere. Most institutions will not admit a transferring student without a TC. In iilmaa, the certificates module produces TCs (alongside ID cards and other certificates) from the student's existing records.
Monthly Pay Order — the Bangladesh government scheme that pays a monthly salary subsidy to teachers of registered non-government schools, colleges and madrashas; teachers and posts brought under it are said to be on the MPO index. Institutions must account for MPO-subsidized and institution-paid salaries side by side. iilmaa's HR & payroll module keeps complete salary records for staff under any payment arrangement.
The grading scale used in Bangladesh's secondary and higher-secondary results, running from 0 to 5.00, where each subject's grade point (A+ = 5.00 down to D = 1.00) is averaged; GPA 5.00 is the highest result. Board-aligned schools and madrashas report results on this scale. iilmaa auto-grades exams on the GPA 5.0 scale and builds merit lists and board-format report cards from it.
Splitting a large fee — admission, annual or course fee — into smaller scheduled payments agreed between the institution and the guardian. Installments make fees affordable for families and give the institution a predictable collection schedule. iilmaa's fee module supports installments and partial payments against invoices, with dues tracked automatically.
A written proof of payment showing the amount, date, purpose (which fee or installment), payer and receiver — the primary evidence for both the guardian and the institution's books. Without receipts, fee disputes have no reference point. iilmaa generates a PDF receipt for every fee payment, cash or bKash/Nagad, and can notify the guardian automatically.
Comparing two independent records of the same money — for example, the fee register against bKash statements or a bank passbook — to confirm they agree and to catch missing or duplicate entries. Regular monthly reconciliation is how institutions find leaks and errors early. When fee payments, receipts and the ledger live in one system such as iilmaa, reconciliation becomes a short report check rather than a register hunt.
The organized list of all account categories an institution uses — tuition income, salaries, utilities, Zakat fund, bank, cash — each with its own code; it is the backbone of any accounting system. A clean chart of accounts is what makes reports meaningful (for example, 'how much did we spend on transport this year?'). iilmaa's Diamond plan includes accounting with a chart of accounts and a double-entry ledger.
The small cash fund kept on hand for everyday minor expenses — stationery, fares, minor repairs — usually managed with a simple voucher register. Though each amount is small, untracked petty cash is a classic source of loss in institution offices. In iilmaa's income/expense module, these small daily expenses are recorded and summarized together with everything else.
A product that runs entirely under the customer's own brand — own logo, own domain, own identity — with the underlying vendor invisible to end users. For an institution it means parents experience 'the madrasha's own website and portal', not a third-party brand. iilmaa's Diamond plan includes a white-label website on the institution's own domain.
A security model in which every user holds a role — admin, teacher, accountant, branch manager — and the role decides which data and actions they can see or perform: a teacher sees their own classes, not the institution's salaries. It reduces mistakes and protects sensitive data such as guardian phone numbers. iilmaa uses role-based access so staff only see what their responsibilities require.
A database-level protection in which every query is filtered by rules, so a user can only read or change the specific rows (records) their role allows — a branch teacher's account physically cannot return another branch's student rows. Unlike merely hiding menu items, it protects data even if someone reaches the API or a crafted link. iilmaa's security stack includes TLS encryption in transit and RLS-based role separation.
Application Programming Interface — a defined connection through which two software systems exchange data automatically, such as pulling payment confirmations from a gateway or pushing attendance data to another tool. An institution needs an API when it wants system-to-system integration instead of manual export and import. iilmaa offers API access on the Diamond plan.
A service that converts a software's requests into SMS messages delivered to mobile numbers, handling the telecom connections, routing and delivery reports. School software relies on it to send attendance, fee and notice messages to guardians in bulk. iilmaa sends SMS through the BulkSMSBD gateway, with monthly credits by plan — 500 on Gold, 3,000 on Diamond.
Sending one message to hundreds or thousands of recipients at once through a gateway — used for notices, exam schedules, holiday announcements and due reminders. Because every SMS costs credit, well-designed systems try push notifications first and keep SMS for urgent messages. In iilmaa, bulk messages go to selected classes or the whole institution, and push notifications to the parent app do not consume SMS credit.
A message delivered to a user's installed mobile app, appearing as a phone notification — no SMS cost and no phone number needed. For schools, push messages to the parent app carry notices, receipts and absence alerts instantly and at almost zero cost. iilmaa's parent app sends push notifications for events such as absence, fee receipts and result publication.
Google's push-delivery infrastructure that Android and iOS apps use to route notifications to devices reliably — including phones that were offline and receive the message once they reconnect. Most mobile apps, including school parent apps, deliver push notifications over FCM. iilmaa's mobile apps use FCM push, so guardians get app notifications without spending SMS credit.
The percentage of time a service is actually reachable and working — '99.9% uptime' means roughly under 9 hours of downtime a year. For school software, uptime matters most at peak moments: morning attendance, month-start fee collection and results day. iilmaa is cloud-hosted with hosting, backups and updates included in the plan, so institutions run no servers of their own.
