Now the second part I want to focus on is the MCB(muslim council of Britiain) guide for schools to deal with muslim students, i will give a brief breakdown of the guide, along with other peoples views(from the BBC):
The document says more needs to be done to respond positively to the concerns of Muslim pupils and parents.
It calls for special considerations for Muslims in almost every aspect of school life: collective worship, PE, dance, swimming, exams, school meals, sex education and parents' evenings.
The report rejects from the outset the policy that religion is a strictly private matter that lies outside the school's remit.
It says such an approach makes it "more difficult" for schools to respond positively to the "distinctive" needs of Muslim children.
Dress codes are one obvious source of potential problems. The MCB report is silent on the full-face veil.
But it does say schools "should accommodate" Muslim girls so they are allowed to wear "a full-length loose school skirt or loose trousers, a long-sleeved shirt and a head scarf".
It adds that the headscarf, properly tied, should also be allowed in PE and science. It also says that amulets containing Koranic verses "should not be considered as jewellery".
As for boys, the guidance says they should be allowed to wear beards. Like the girls, they should be allowed to wear tracksuits during sport and PE.
Changing for PE, which is a compulsory part of the national curriculum, is one of the more troublesome areas.
Many primary schools lack separate changing facilities for boys and girls. Younger children often change in classrooms. This guidance says they should use portable partitions.
It argues that all schools, including secondaries, should ideally have separate changing facilities with "individual changing cubicles".
Muslim children "should not be expected to participate in communal showering".
The compromise of allowing Muslim pupils to shower in bathing costumes is not acceptable either, says the guidance, because Islam also forbids being in the presence of nakedness.
Sports involving physical contact (basketball, for example) should happen only in single-gender groups.
Swimming is fraught with difficulties. Again schools are urged "to make every effort" to provide single-sex swimming lessons, as well as allowing Muslim girls to wear full leotards or leggings in the water.
During Ramadan, some pupils might wish to be excused swimming if they fear that swallowing water would break their fast.
There are many other areas in which Muslim pupils need special consideration:
they cannot take part in dance
school meals must include halal options
Islamic Studies should be offered to all Muslim pupils in RE at Key Stage 4 (GCSE level)
schools "should consider" offering Arabic to Muslim pupils.
The list is long: there are stipulations covering music, drama, art, school libraries, provision for prayers, school visits, and raffles.
Yesterday I quoted one of my least favourite newspapers, well to go along with the Telegraph the Daily Express is a equally vile, maybe even more so, aneway when the guide came out, the title in the express was
Muslims demand "Taleban-style" conditions in our schools, and this is why it pisses me off, it causes hysteria and unnneccesary panic, and the target audiance is middle class women (most likely white, and who have little contact with muslims) and so will play to the paranoia of these mums, that the 'muslims' are coming and will ruin you and your children...I have to admit I dont agree with a number of points raised and think its a little ridiculous but there is no mention of the Taleban in that guide and its meant to be a source of reference.
I think there was a need for some sort of a guide, as after all there are 400,000 Muslim pupils in school education and 96% of the them in state school, that figure must be like at least 5-10% of School kids are muslim, which is a huge number, and the teachers who have little knowledge of Islam will need to be more aware incase of cultural snesitiveites. I remeber when I was at school, i used to play on the fact that some of the teachers knew very little on Islam, and would miss lessons or even whole days due to somethign Islamically releated, and I wasnt the only one, and we could get away with that. However I would try pullin that on someone i knew who was clued up in Islam.
Something intresting raised is that the whole focus is on how schools should adapt to Muslim children and not Muslim children should adapt to School, and i think that is partly where we are going wrong. I mean it is a two way process where children come to learn and be socialise and school teach and offer convient venues for intergration and a harmonious society, at an early age a child has no prejudice no preconceptions,and so if you manage to get tolerance at a early age in children then their would be alot less beef(fighting) in the world!
While the MCB is correct to bring awareness of the fact that schools and society in general can indeed do much to become more aware and attune to minority religions, cultures and languages, this document verges on the bizarre. I grew up in Saudi Arabia, perhaps the strictest Islamic State of all, in a school with over a 100 nationalities, encompassing all faiths and traditions. Close to half the pupils were Muslim, and none of these issues from PE to dance were ever a source of conflict.
Saj Chakkalakal, London
The changing for PE issue is one which I think all parents should be concerned about as children develop at different rates and are entitled to some privacy. When I was at school, the girls from two classes got changed in one classroom and did Netball or whatever, whilst the boys did woodwork. Then the boys from the two classes got changed in the other room and did football whilst the girls sewed. And that was a one form entry primary school.
Jan, Birmingham
As someone who teaches in a secondary school I understand the importance of adapting to accommodate as many belief systems as possible. However, I feel that is up to the individual schools to make a decision as to what extent this happens. We are in essence a Christian country, and although I love having a mix of people our society, there needs to be acceptance of the fact that we are predominantly Christian.
Victoria, Brighton
I think that the increase in lack of Christian values has led to problems for the Muslim minority that didn't exist before and that is why the "guidance" provided by the MCB seems so burdensome to provide. Christianity has a lot of similarities with Islam and when our parents settled although they may have experienced racism they still felt safe because the values of Christianity meant that promiscuity was frowned upon and dress codes were modest. Now Christianity has nearly disappeared and politicians keep insisting on "Britishness". What is "Britishness"? Could the British born white person pass the citizenship test? What does a person have to be like to be British?
Zara, Bolton
This is a simple issue, the principle of "when in Rome" should apply here. If I move to a country where the culture is not what I'm accustomed to, it means that I must adapt, not the host country. I would research the culture before I went, not after I arrived.
George Denyer, Glenrothes,
The Muslims should adapt to our norms not the other way round. Do we have the Chinese insisting on everyone celebrating Chinese New Year or Hindus insisting on no beef, no we don't, they adapt to the cultural norms of this country.
Tom, Aylesbury
If a Muslim is allowed to wear a headscarf then other pupils can argue that they are being discriminated against by not being allowed to wear a hat or a hood. Treating a child different because of their religion only encourages a divide to exist. How can you teach children that everyone is equal when they see their friends being treated differently from them.
Sean, Scotland
The face veil is not simply a barrier to communication. Girls should not be required learn to separate themselves from boys and men. Schools are places where girls and boys learn to take their place as equals in the adult world. To allow Muslim girls to wear the face veil in schools would make teachers complicit in the unequal treatment of the girls and boys of one particular religion.
Elizabeth Foster, Oxford
What pupils wear at school is surely not a big issue. I can understand that a school would want everybody to wear the same uniform, but surely a uniform rules could be adapted for certain religious and cultural groups. The other issues: changing systems, employing specialist staff and erecting structures to accommodate Muslim requirements are more of a problem because (i) the cost and (ii) this will start to look like segregation - even apartheid - as different groups are treated differently.
Ken, Bristol
The one thing I have to say in response to the above views, is about the thing of well you live in this country so u have to live as we do, and when were in your country we live like u do. Well the Middle East and Asia dont really pride themselves on demoracy and try to be the 'beacon' of light that is meant to be the example of democracy or freedom. So yes if you lived in the Middle East you are expected to live in more stringent conditions, however if you live in England, despite it being a Christian country is supposed to by its very foreign policy nature supposed to encourage freedom of expression and will, and so for me wearing a hijab or niqab is a form of that expression. I also agree strongly with what Zara wrote, in that we live in a more secular society where relgious conduct has decreased over the years and thats played a large impact in allienating minority groups who still hold on to strong relgious morales...
Thats all from me Folks today...
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