According to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, British Muslim schools are “Osama bin Laden Academies” educatingnbsp;Muslim children to be future terrorists to undermine western civilisation and culture.

It is not only the ATL but in my opinion the NUT and NASUWT who do not want to see Muslim schools.

It is a fact that British teachers have no respect for Islamic faith and Muslim community.nbsp;They are not against church schools but against Muslim schools, and they do not want to see an expansion of faith schools.

They have been trying their best to anglicise Muslim children by ignoring their names, and never try to learn to pronounce their names correctly.

British education is the home of institutional and cultural racism.nbsp;State schools are mis-educating and de-educating Muslim children. Muslim children are victims of racism, multiculturalism and bullying.nbsp;The majority of them leave schools with low grades or without any qualification because nobody cares to teach them standard academic English to follow the national curriculum.

There is no arrangement for them to learn Arabic and Urdu so that they could keep in touch with their roots.nbsp;They suffer from identify crises.nbsp;Cultural racism is so ripe that those Muslims who do secure university posts, headships or high positions in LEAs, consequently have to culturally “whiten” to survive.

The Muslim community does not have any alternative but to set up Muslim schools to raise the standard of education of future Muslim generations as well as to develop Islamic identify crucial for mental, emotional and personality development.nbsp;

Four Muslim schools have become state funded and the number will increase with the passage of time.nbsp;The waiting list for admission is a lengthy one and it is difficult for few schools to meet the ever-increasing demands of Muslim parents.

Education is an expensive business and it is difficult for them to meet all the expenses but in spite of all the problems the number of Muslim schools is on the incease and one day all Muslim children shall attend Muslim schools with Muslim teachers.

The Muslim community does not have the resources to set up Muslim schools for each and every child.nbsp; There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in a majority.nbsp; In my opinion such schools may be handed over to the Muslim educational trust and charities who are in a better position to educate them.

Iftikhar Ahmad
London School of Islamics
61 Margery Park Road
Londonnbsp;nbsp; E7