Comments on: Students Deserve Equal Religious Rights Under the Law

By: Iftikhar

Iftikhar — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:34:28 +0000

Muslim youths are angry, frustrated and extremist because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by the British schooling. Muslim children are confused because they are being educated in a wrong place at a wrong time in state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. They face lots of problems of growing up in two distinctive cultural traditions and value systems, which may come into conflict over issues such as the role of women in the society, and adherence to religious and cultural traditions. The conflicting demands made by home and schools on behaviour, loyalties and obligations can be a source of psychological conflict and tension in Muslim youngsters. There are also the issues of racial prejudice and discrimination to deal with, in education and employment. They have been victim of racism and bullying in all walks of life. According to DCSF, 56% of Pakistanis and 54% of Bangladeshi children has been victims of bullies. The first wave of Muslim migrants were happy to send their children to state schools, thinking their children would get a much better education. Than little by little, the overt and covert discrimination in the system turned them off. There are fifteen areas where Muslim parents find themselves offended by state schools.

The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right that should be available to all people irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background. Schools do not belong to state, they belong to parents. It is the parents’ choice to have faith schools for their children. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim teacher or a child in a Muslim school. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools. An ICM Poll of British Muslims showed that nearly half wanted their children to attend Muslim schools. There are only 143 Muslim schools. A state funded Muslim school in Birmingham has 220 pupils and more than 1000 applicants chasing just 60.

Majority of anti-Muslim stories are not about terrorism but about Muslim
culture–the hijab, Muslim schools, family life and religiosity. Muslims in the west ought to be recognised as a western community, not as an alien culture.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

By: Bright Spot in Charter-school Report: Tarek Academy « Engage Minnesota

Bright Spot in Charter-school Report: Tarek Academy « Engage Minnesota — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:20:31 +0000

[...] best math performer was Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Indeed, that’s the same charter school that was attacked by Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. Her charge that the publicly funded institution was “teaching Islam” [...]

By: rooseveltvoice

rooseveltvoice — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:05:29 +0000

Normative practice and structures in this country deserve a very critical eye in our ever changing world and this is a refreshing take on the subject. I gladly did not read Kersten’s column as the mainstream media offers nothing substantive as it shuts out diverse viewpoints along with legitimate competition(All thanks to our heavily partisan FCC.)

Look to the blogs for useful insight into our daily lives.

By: zainib

zainib — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:26:38 +0000

What a wonderful article! Bravo ladies. My kids are in public schools and spend most of the year doing ‘secular’ ativities with Christmas trees, Easter bunnies and the like. Shamrocks come home in March. A shamrock is the symbol of trinity! All teachers are kind, supportive and flexible, but it is clear that not nearly enough time and attention is given to the secular activites and holidays of other cultures. Fairness is only possible when we look both ways.