Muslim schools – 'a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode' - ???

Speaking at a seminar on the subject of segregation, Nick Johnson of the Commission for Racial Equality asked:

"If a Muslim child is educated in a school where the vast majority of other children are also Muslim, how can we expect him to work, live and interact with people from other cultures when he leaves school? This is a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode."

I personally have mixed views about segregating our future generation from one another, based on their religious beliefs. By all means everyone is allowed the freedom to choose the best educational facilities for their child - I know I’d appreciate it! But coming from a professional from within state education, as well as a young British Muslim, I can appreciate the sentiments behind Nick Johnston’s statement. We live in a multicultural, cosmopolitan society, world even whereby we must interact with people of different backgrounds, cultures, religions, colour, dialects – you name it! So to understand them, to appreciate what they contribute to our society, should we not then be integrated with them in all aspects of our lives – be it from school to shopping at a supermarket and working with them professionally.

But how will our future generation even acknowledge the beautiful diversity we have in this world if they are educated strictly separately from them?

At the same time, I can appreciate why parents may decide to send their child to a ‘Muslim school’ – I’ve had heated discussions with my bro-in-law’s decision to send my above average niece to one (she’s so damn bright, I’m telling ya!). Bringing up children with the core principals, values and teachings of Islam is becoming a challenge in today’s ‘western world’ as he put it and hence they want their child to have a solid foundation of her religion from a young age – before college and university.

But what happens when my 6 year old niece gets to college where her peers are both male and female and of different colour, background, beliefs? Will she be able to adapt to this new ‘world’? Will interaction come second nature to people she may never have come across before…? To people she will live with in society?
And if every, no scratch that, if half of Muslim children went to Islamic schools – who would be left in state schools to represent the Muslim community to make known that we’re not a bunch of fundamentalist extremists that want to be segregated from non-Muslims?

But I’ll leave you with this note, how many times have you heard people in influential positions slam Islamic schools as a threat to community cohesion and unable to prepare Muslim children as good British citizens. Why are Muslim schools singled out when there are thousands of state-funded Christian schools, compared to about 5 state-funded Muslim schools? And while only 3% of British Muslim children attend Muslim schools 49% of British Jewish children attend Jewish schools.

Findings of a recent study by Dr Andrew Holden stated: "The greater degree of racial tolerance in an overwhelmingly Asian/Muslim populated school again calls into question the common sense assumption that mixed schools represent the most tolerant environments."

The biggest and most important issue that Nick Johnson and the Commission for Racial Equality should be concerned about in order to foster an inclusive, cohesive British society, is Islamophobia in state schools. What is being done about this! Rather than moaning and bleating about Muslim schools, collect evidence of Islamophobia in schools and counter it!

Latest example of Islamophobic racist kids in action:

Phew…feels good getting that off my chest!
Peace out.