The issue of faith schools, whether Muslim, Catholic or any other
denomination, is highly contentious and very topical. It was therefore a
daunting, yet intriguing task to represent the NUT at an annual function on
'building bridges with the diverse communities of Leicester' at the Darul Uloom
institute of higher Islamic education.
There are 186 independent Muslim schools in the UK, with more of them
becoming government aided. The Darul Uloom started in 1992, providing education
to 2 students. Today 150 students either attend or board, and take part in a
varied and balanced curriculum at both GCSE and A level.
The evening, which was very informative and open to dialogue, was attended
by leaders of the Hindu and Sikh communities, a representative from the Bishop
of Leicester, Leicester Constabulary, Local councillors, Sir Peter Soulsby MP
and the Deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester. It was hosted by students of the
school, who read and sang from parts of the Qur'an with English translation.
When asked why faith schools were necessary, a guest speaker explained the
importance of recognizing tradition and sustaining faith and culture within a
contemporary society. The institute therefore aimed to both impart knowledge
and train the souls, so that students graduated as holistic individuals.
The point of the evening was to open the way for mutual understanding,
develop stronger community links and level out any misconceptions of the
guests. Events like these do give a deeper understanding of faith schools; the
community at Darul Uloom showed a warmth and genuine openness to ensure
people's questions were answered. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and was
inspired by talking to students whose aspirations were very varied; some of
them were even crazy enough to want to become teachers!
Sera Shortland
With the government's announcement last month that it intends to continue
its expansion of religious schools and will encourage all new faith schools to offer
25% of their places to children of other or no faiths, Satish Kapur,
retired teacher and NUT member, responds to last month's City Teacher
which carried an article about The Darul Aloom Institute.
It was interesting, and of course intriguing, to read an account of Sera
Shortland's visit to a faith school in the October issue of City Teacher. She
observes that, 'The Institute aimed to both impart knowledge and train the
souls so that students graduated as holistic individuals.' She further observes
that 'events like these do give a deeper understanding of Faith Schools.'
I do not know whether Sera Shortland ever was a student or taught in a
Faith school, but I had that misfortune and still carry the scars and damage
done to me. My schooling was in undivided India before 1947 where, for
historical reasons, religious communities by and large lived separately and had
separate institutions and shopping areas. Whatever schooling was available was
within their own areas. Social contacts between religious groups were scarce
and if there were any it was to service the needs of the British Empire.
The provision of public education was patchy and limited to towns and
cities, and that too was mainly for boys taught by male teachers provided by
religious organisations. This was partly financed by private grants from the
government, whose main objective was to produce just enough literate people to
man the lower rungs of the ladder of Imperial rule.
My recollections of religious instruction (which still carries on in some
British Faith Schools) were: our god is the true god and is superior to the
gods of other religions. We recited hymns from a language which was not taught
in school and which we did not understand. No explanation was provided of what
they meant. What we were told is that heaven is only attainable through giving
alms and donations to male priests and that non-observance of rituals or
prayers would lead straight to hell after death.
In 1947 India was partitioned. The horrors of religious killings, raping
and looting at partition still haunt me; the scale of these atrocities was not
far off the atrocities committed in Ghengis Khan's invasions in 13th century.
Colonial Imperialism did play a part in this human madness, but the separate
living of these communities was a significant contributing factor in this
tragic chapter in Indian history.
It was coming over here to this country in my late twenties that gave me an
opportunity to teach students from different backgrounds and to socially
interact with children from different ethnic backgrounds. My children were also
fortunate enough to be educated in state comprehensive schools and made friends
from all backgrounds.
Black communities in Britain did face racism, both in school and the wider
community in the 1970s, but it was the unity of both blacks and whites which
fought the evil of racism. Sadly, the multiculturalism of the 1980s, which took
anti-racism out of the educational equation and replaced it with a celebration
of religious diversity, is now responsible for the separate settlement patterns
of blacks and whites and Asians, at first on racial grounds but lately
increasingly on a religious basis. This is exactly what is happening today in
Leicester.
The setting up of faith schools will breed ignorance rather than imparting
knowledge. It will inculcate hatred instead of 'training souls,' and the
outcome will be bigoted individuals, not 'holistic individuals.'
Peter Flack, Assistant Secretary
I was disappointed that City NUT was represented at an event that was
essentially promoting faith schools and, in this case, separate Muslim schools,
although I do understand that this was not known in advance. Local NUT policy
is opposed to faith schools and City NUT opposed the establishment of both the
Church of England Academy on the Mary Linwood site and the new Islamic Academy.
NUT members work with pupils regardless of their faith. Indeed their faith
is not and should not be an issue in education. The purpose of education is to
allow children to identify and develop their skills and talents, to discover
and explore ideas and to experience new things and learn from them. Mixed,
neighbourhood comprehensive schools, that draw on the whole community, provide
the best environment for enabling children to develop as rounded, tolerant
human beings. They are also a key mechanism for breaking down barriers and
encouraging understanding.
That is very different from imposing a set of fixed beliefs and views on
children. Where the Bible or Koran dominate the curriculum, then there is by
definition no broad and balanced curriculum. If religious groups wish to
promote their beliefs, then the appropriate place to do this is at the Mosque,
Church, Temple, Synagogue or Gudwara.
Sadly, of late, the religious fervour of the Prime Minister has led to an
ill-disguised attack on comprehensive schools alongside the promotion of yet
more faith schools, including some run by creationists. Perhaps the government
should re-read the report into the Bradford riots which identified segregated
education as a key causal factor in creating mistrust and antagonism between
communities. As Rabbi Jonathan Romain of the Maidenhead Reform Jewish synagogue
said: "The very existence of faith schools is a mistake. They have the
effect of dividing children of different communities from each other, sowing
seeds of ignorance and mistrust."
In the meantime, I hope that NUT locally will decline all future invitations
to celebrate the ‘virtues’ of segregated faith education. Instead we should
concentrate on promoting the more obvious virtues of a secular education
provided in neighbourhood comprehensive schools, where comparative religious
studies form a part of the curriculum but do not dominate that curriculum.
Sera attended the evening on behalf of the Association and submitted an article at my request to report, in an even handed way, on the views of the organisers of the meeting. She was careful not to express her own views in the article but is pleased that the article has elicited a response from members.