One good thing about the recession
Editorial by Terry Sanderson
It is reported that the Archbishop of York is glad about the recession and thinks it is positive in many ways, making people realise that money isn’t everything. Perhaps he’ll be telling that to those of his parishioners who are jobless, on the breadline, unable to properly feed their children and will be having a miserable Christmas this year due to the lack of the filthy lucre Mr Sentamu despises so much.
Anyway, we’ll dwell on this stupid man’s crass remarks only long enough to say that one really good outcome of the recession is that private Muslim schools up and down the country are on the brink of closure because parents can’t afford the fees.
Of course, this news is brought to us by the chairman of the Association of Muslim Schools, the wonderful Dr Mohammed Mukadhum, so you’ll pardon our cynicism as we look for the hidden agenda. He says just about all of the 100 or so of these dreadful brainwashing institutions are under threat. The eleven that aren’t under threat are financed by you and me through our taxes.
According to a BBC report, the Iqra Girls’ School in Oxford is one of the private independent schools facing closure. Head teacher Dr Hojjat Ramzy said there was not enough funding to run the school and they could be left with no choice but to close the only Islamic school in Oxford. He said some of the parents had sent their children to schools in Pakistan and Bangladesh instead and others will follow because they don’t want their children sent to state schools – presumably because they might risk receiving a balanced education.
Zainab Rahman, 11, is in year seven at the secondary school is quoted by the BBC as saying: “I love it here, I get to learn about my religion and I can talk openly about it.” But does she get to talk about anything else but her religion? She says her best friend was sent to Pakistan last month to be educated there because her parents could not afford the school fees. “She didn't really have a choice and had to go abroad.” Pity the children.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families said there would be no taxpayer bail-out for these private schools, although they could always apply to become part of the state sector. That would mean, of course, that they would have to teach the National Curriculum rather than Koranic studies from morning till night. The DCSF spokesperson added: “We have made it far easier for an independent school to join the state sector – as long as it is supported by the local council and community.”
Dr Mukadhum said many schools did not want to become voluntary aided because then the government would have a more substantial influence in the way they were run. Ah, now we’re getting to it.
He showed even more of where he was coming from when he appeared on Radio 4’s Moral Maze in 2006, and was asked by Ian Hargreaves: “What kind of behaviour would you expect from a young non-Muslim girl coming to your school? Would she, for example, be expected to dress in a way that conforms to conservative Muslim values?
Dr Mukadam replied: “Yes, we have a school uniform and that means wearing the hijab and the jilbab, and any parent that wishes to send their kids to the school, the school has a uniform policy whether it is for Muslims or non-Muslims. They have to abide by that”.
Hargreaves: “Would you be prepared to compromise that for funding?”
Mukadam: “We are a faith school with particular values and we expect when we put out the policies like any other school that the pupils follow these policies. If they are not happy with these policies, there are plenty of choices around.”
Let us not forget, either, what Yusuf Islam — a leading light in the Islamia School in Brent, which is state-sponsored — says about the purpose of Muslim schools: “The ultimate aim of Islamic education is the realisation of complete submission to Allah on the level of the individual, the community and humanity at large”. Or, as Ibrahim Lawson, the headteacher of the Islamia School in Nottingham said to Ernie Rea on the Radio 4 programme Beyond Belief: “The essential purpose of the Islamia school, as with all Islamic schools, is to inculcate profound religious belief in the children.” Ernie Rea responded: “You use the word ‘inculcate’: does that mean you are in the business of indoctrination?” To which Mr Lawson blithely retorted: “I would say so, yes; I mean we are quite unashamed about that really…” Mr Rea then said: “Does that mean that Islam is a given and never challenged?” Lawson: That’s right.”
A Civitas report in March this year reported:
“Music, chess and cricket are just three things banned in some Muslim schools in the UK. Others are drama, dance, sport, Shakespeare, and, in some cases, any aspect of Western culture whatever. According to the management committee of London's Madani Secondary Girls' School, this is because "our children are exposed to a culture that is in opposition with almost everything Islam stands for". The response to this sense of danger is often to forbid outright any kind of relationship with non-Muslims: "Allah has warned us in the Koran, do not befriend the kuffaar. The Jews and Christians will never be content with you until you follow their way," says Riyadhul Haq, a teacher in Kidderminster.”
Muslim schools outside the state sector seem to be laws unto themselves. Ofsted inspectors run in fear of criticising them lest they be branded “Islamophobic”. The sooner the recession does for them, the better.
See also: Ethics offered as an alternative to RE in Australian schools
Ed Balls creates smokescreen around extremist schools
