Muslim Academies

[Iftikhar]

Muslim Academies
Academies bill will enable a radical overhaul of England's schools, giving every school the chance to convert to an academy and giving parents the right to create free schools outside the control of LAs.The new schools will drive up standards and the education would be in accordance with the needs and demands of the parents. It will help native Brits, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities to set up their own schools for the education of their children. It is nothing to do with integration or segregation. Segregation already exists in British schoolings, it is not going to widen. President Obama supports free schools in America because they have benefitted the least well off the most. Educating children is the priority.

It is wrong to assert that a small unrepresentative group of Muslim activists tried to islamisise a state primary school in Woking. The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to state funded Muslim schools. They are not extremists who want to change of ethos of those schools where Muslim children are in majority. It is the democratic right of every Muslim parent to see that their children receive balanced education, so that when their children grow up, they do not find themselves cut off from their cultural roots and linguistic skills. It is a question of common sense, humanity and reason that bilingual Muslim children must be educated in state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. The whole world believes that people who speak more than one language is a vital economic asset. Pupils who speak more than one language do not cause difficulties. It is the politicians and monolingual teachers who are the problems for bilingual pupils. Muslim school will help to cultivate the child into a healthy, fully flourishing individual with a passion for learning. There are hundreds of state and church schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be opted out as Muslim Academies.

Muslim schools are not only faith schools; they are more or less bilingual schools. Bilingual Muslim children need to learn and be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. State schools with monolingual teachers do not teach Standard English to Migrant children. Bilingual Muslim children learn English in the playgrounds and in the streets. They speak street language with its own grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The teachers let them speak the same accent in the classroom. They have no courage to stop them or correct them. This is one of the main reasons why one third of children have difficulties with reading when they leave primary schools. Majority of such children are Muslims. In other European countries and in the sub-continent argot and slang are not allowed into the classroom. In Britain primary school teachers do not feel that it’s their role to interfere with self-expression in any shape or form. They encourage children to read poems and stories written in ethnic dialects.

Muslim faith schools are more or less bilingual schools. Priority will be given to the teaching of Standard English, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. All Muslim children will learn and be well versed in Standard English and Quranic Arabic and at the same time they will learn and be well versed in one of the community language to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Majority of children will learn Urdu language because it is a lingua franca of the migrants from the sub-continent. And majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan and their national language is Urdu.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

[fish5133]

What will these Muslim Academies teach about the treatment of muslim women who convert to Christianity? The same as in Muslim countries or a different teaching for Britain?

[Iftikhar]

Muslim girls who have been mis-educated and de-educated by state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers find themselves cut off from their cultural roots and are unable to enjoy the beauty of their literature.

Muslim Academies will help Muslim girls to keep in touch with their cultural heritage and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their deelopmental periods. Ther is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school. Muslim schools will help them to develop Islamic Idenmtity which is crucial for mental, emotional and personality development.

I set up the first Muslim school in London in 1981 and now there are about 170 Muslim schools and only 12 are state funded. I would like to see each and every Muslim child in a state funded Muslim school. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village because he is well versed in standard English, Arabic, Urdu and other community language. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit.
IA

[Andrew.]

[Iftikhar]

[Iftikhar]

We live in a shrunken world and millions of people are on the move; one of
our biggest challenges is how we learn to live in proximity to difference –
different skin colours, different beliefs and different way of life.
According to a study by COMPAS, Muslims born and educated were given the
impression of outsiders. The perception among Muslims is that they are
unwelcome in Britain is undermining efforts to help them integrate into
wider society. Most of them say that they have experienced race
discrimination and religious prejudice. Muslims and Islam is promoted a
fundamentalist and separatist by the western elite, which have negative
impact on community and social cohesion. The number of racist incidents
occurring in London Borough of Redbridge’s schools have reached their
highest levels since record begin.

God has created diverse human beings to live in this tiny global village of
one family. Creation by its very nature is diverse with different species,
different communities, different cultures and languages. These differences
represent the beauty and wonder but diversity is sometimes not fully
appreciated, resulting in all sorts of clashes. The British society and
Establishment must learn to respect and accommodate others, as if in a
family.

For someone to experience racial abuse is terribly hurtful. It is a feeling
that is indescribable. Unless you have been a victim of it you will never
know what it feels like. So to except it or to grow a spine like someone has
just suggested, is impossible. Many people who are victims never report it
or even talk about. It is sometimes even more painful to talk about it.
Therefore most people choose to sweep it under the carpet. Sadly.

People are people, regardless of where they were born, what colour their
skin is, or whatever religion. All deserve respect. Tolerance in
Sweden/Britain is an illusion. The problem isn't immigrants not adapting to
British culture, it's Brits showing much disrespect and scorn to those who
are of any immigrant background. even if an immigrant was well versed in
English, knew the customs etc. would they still get employment? No. Would
Brits treat them as a decent human? No. So why would they want to assimilate
into a culture that is constantly tearing them down? Multiculturalism is not
about integration but about cultural plurality. It is not about separation
but about respect and the deepening awareness of Unity in Diversity. Each
culture will maintain its own intrinsic value and at the same time would be
expected to contribute to the benefit of the whole society.

A man is a product of his culture, language and faith. State funded Muslim
schools with bilingual Muslim teachers would help bilingual Muslim children
to develop their cultural, linguistic and spiritual identities before they
are exposed to other cultures and faiths. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny
global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit.
Children that can speak more than one languages do better overall in
learning and it will help them excel in a job when they are older. Only an
idiot would think that being bi/trilingual is a bad thing. I think its great
to be surrounded by foreign languages

I set up the first Muslim school in 1981 in Stratford London and now there
are round about 188 Muslim schools and only 12 are state funded. I would
like to see each and every Muslim child in a State funded Muslim school. I
hope one day my dream would come true.

A study by Bristol University reveals that a high level of racial
segregation in Oldham schools and tension between communities resulted in
recent riots in 2001. The solution is that those schools where Muslim
children are majority, may be designated as Muslim community schools. The
native parents do not want their children to be educated along with migrant
children. As soon as they find that the number of other children are on the
increase, they remove their children to those schools where native children
are in majority.

Muslim families are as entitled as any other religious group to schools that
nurture their children's faith. Muslim pupils should be educated in Muslim
schools because the current system is marginalising them. Teaching Muslim
children in a Muslim school would remove the "problem of them being exposed"
to values that conflict with Islamic faith. Muslim pupils are disadvantaged
and marginalised in the city's state schools because the cultural heritage
of the curriculum is "European and Christian". Now Hindu, Sikh and Black
communities are thinking of setting up their own schools with their own
teachers. Hindu and Sikh community has already in the process of setting up
schools for their children.

Muslim schools provide an education in accordance with the Muslim beliefs
and values, such as providing single-sex schooling after puberty. They are
thus a response to the danger of absorption into the dominant culture.
Muslim schools are for Muslim children of every racial background. There is
no place of a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.

A growing number of British-born Muslims and especially Pakistanis are
suffering from psychological problems and apathy and are either turning to
crime or radical Islam. Majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan. A
growing number of young Pakistanis feel they are ‘second class citizens and
will remain so. They are addressed as outsiders – as ‘immigrant, **** or
Muslim’ and increasingly shut out or discriminated against. The hardening of
attitudes towards Muslims in British society is also having an effect.

I have been campaigning for state funded Muslim schools for the last 35
years because British schooling is the home of institutional racism and
British teachers are chicken racists. British teachers are not role models
for Muslim children during their developmental periods.

Western media and politicians have been trying their best to propagate
against Muslim schools. Muslim schools are even called Osama bin Laden
Academies by a Teaching Union. Only less than 10% of Muslim children attend
Muslim schools while more than 95% are in state schools to be mis-educated
and de-educated by non-Muslim monolingual teachers.

There are hundreds of state and church schools where Muslim children are in
majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be opted out as Muslim
Academies. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role
model during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim
child or a teacher in a Muslim school.