By Paul Belien, Brussels Journal
Thursday, March 8, 2007
A quote from Iftikhar Ahmad at London School of Islamics, 1 March 2007
According to a study, majority of Muslim pupils are underachieving at schools because the curriculum is racist. [...] In state schools, Muslim pupils are placed in situation where they feel pressured into acting contrary to their beliefs and conscience and also experience Islamophobic sentiments and comments within schools.
Bristol council spent 18000.00 researching whether there was a demand for an Islamic school. [...] The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to state funded Muslim schools.
I did a survey in the London Borough of Newham in 1991 to find out the level of support for state funded Muslim schools. I visited each and every Muslim home in the Borough to find out their opinion about Muslim majority state schools to be designated as Muslim community schools. Nearly 90% of Muslim parents supported my proposal. The Guardian newspaper dated 5th of November 1991 devoted half a page on my efforts for state funded Muslim schools.
Multifaith schools are not going to bring together children from different faiths. State schools are already multicultural and multiracial but relation between different communities has gone from bad to worse for the last 30 years. [...] Muslim children leave schools with Identity Crises crucial for mental, emotional and personality development. Institutional racism is rife in schools and is responsible for poorer academic of most Blacks and Muslim children. There is no sign of respect and understanding between the children of different communities. There will be hardly any difference between future Multifaith schools and present state schools because British teachers have no respect for Islamic faith and Muslim community.
The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to see their children attending Muslim schools. There are few Muslim schools with long waiting lists. There is a dire need for more Muslim schools. There are no shortages of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority, such schools may be designated as Muslim schools under the management and control of Muslim educational Trust or Charities. In Bradford, two Church schools have 90% of Muslim pupils because Muslims are in majority in the catchment areas and parents have no choice but to send their children. Lord Darring should consider to designate those two schools as Muslim community schools. Where Muslim pupils are in minority, such schools may be designated as Multifaith schools to satisfy the needs and demands of secularist. LEAs can implement such plans straight away with a stroke of a pen at local levels.
State funded Muslim schools need Muslim teachers. Highly qualified teachers can be recruited from Muslim countries for the teaching of National Curriculum, Islamic Studies, Arabic and Urdu languages so that Muslim children do not find themselves cut off from their cultural and linguistic roots. The study of Comparative religions is not required because Islam teaches respect, tolerance and understanding of those who are different from them.
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