How Successful Are Muslim Schools in the UK - Research Paper Example

Since the beginning of civilization, man has always been travelling from one place to another in search of better food and location. In the modern times, people have migrated from all parts of the world to developed nations and have spread their beliefs and religion across their new homes. It started as a form of gestures for informing others about the religion, but eventually values based information turned into religious teachings in schools. Islam is one of the oldest religions of the world and is very dominant in a lot of countries. The entire Middle East and a no. of countries from Asia and Africa have Islam as a religion in a very dominant form. Great Britain has a decent population of migrants from all parts of the world. The country however has its share of citizens that are following Islam and are sending their children to Islamic schools. These schools are known as ‘Madrassas’ and are famous for propounding and preaching Islam in a large way along with providing children with subtle education. In these Muslim schools, children have to follow and learn only the teachings from their holy book ‘Koran’ .They also have to deeply understand the impact of Islamic teachings and have to necessitate facts for the importance of it. Schools and religion should not be combined as it creates an amount of segregation in the society. Islamic schools though have students are deemed different from other schools because of its core ideologies and visions. Children should be given a free hand in understanding science and its effects which somehow gets robbed in religious centric schools. Giving religious values to children is one thing, but drawing the entire education on religious sentiments, it creates a differential line not only in education but also the society. To understand the advantages and disadvantages of Islamic schools it is important to understand the quintessential way of operation these schools utilize. The ‘Madrassas’ or Muslim schools comes under the banner of sectarian faith schools. The basic role definition of sectarian based schools is that of dividing and segregating children on the lines of religion, race and ethnicity. These schools embed the children with less tolerance for people following other religions and somehow miss the point of treating everyone equal. Britain in the last few decades and especially its last few years has had its share of riots based on racial hatred. The Bradford race riots which occurred in 2001 had become very infamous for its gory violence and racial abuse. However when investigation was done, it was found that the existence of religious schools had increased segregation and was the considered to be the main contributor for racial tensions. The increase in religious schools and especially the ones with high sectarian values create more educational segregation and also divide the educational system on racial and religious lines. It is human psychology to treat people with different and vague ideologies as farfetched and useless. The problem with Muslim schools is that the students somehow start believing that they are the only ones that have a purpose in life while the rest are just wastage of time. Similarly children of normal schools look at the kids of Madrassas as different and odd and always make them a subject of acute verbal abuse. Psychologically there always would be more amount of intolerance for students who are different from the rest. The biggest emotional catch in attaining education from Muslim schools is the division of society in multiple ways. Children who tend to go to these schools will always be more tolerant towards their students of their faith and schools and would sub consciously fall into the habit of choosing friends based on religion and race. These patterns hardly change when the child grows up and it becomes a barrier in the society as this fundamentalist thinking gets more advanced when they become matured adults. The chance of them sharing harsher ideologies with their children also increases. There are many disadvantages and very few advantages when it comes to sectarian schools and especially that of Muslim schools. Islamic schools have come in western countries like UK, US, Australia despite lot of unwarranted attention to Islamic principles. The biggest advantage of Muslim schools is the preservation of their religion and practices that are being incorporated in school children staying abroad. The concept of these schools is to provide an education that is grossly based on modern syllabus but through an Islamic point of view. The child also has a lesser chance to indulge in drugs and alcohol in their growing age compared to school children in public schools. The sense of brotherhood for their own people also increases and if the child genuinely only follows the concepts and principles of ‘Koran’, he might turn out to be a person of noble characteristics. However the chances of this happening are negligible because of the surrounding factors. A child is more dependent on surrounding learning and his ability is further assessed on such aspects. Even in normal schools, the contribution of parents and teachers to enhance the child’s ability gets restricted due to inadequate resources. This greatly signifies the importance of having schools that provides comprehensive impetus for the growth of school children. However, creating conducive ambience in and around classrooms requires a lot of efforts and in-depth understanding of the child psychology. Sending children to religious based schools especially eliminates the chance for the child to increase his sensory perceptions. The power and importance of education in bringing social reforms is greatly underestimated. To be entitled as a ‘visionary education system’, schools must learn to integrate constructive elements and negate any kind of singular thinking. The disadvantages of children studying in Muslim schools is pretty high and the all round development of the child gets greatly affected due to the inadequacy in providing the child with apt education. The foremost disadvantage is the child does not receive a high standard of education compared to children in public schools. This happens because the child is learning on topic with an Islamic view, which somehow eliminates the chances for the child’s curiosity to be grown. If everything has to be followed by God’s way, then the need to have a better understanding of that subject dies off. This is exactly the reason why children of Muslim school mostly do well in Islamic studies but fail to gather interest in other subjects. Learning of history subject increases the knowledge and sense about the foundation of the country. When staying in the United Kingdom, it becomes advisable for children to learn history that is relevant to their country rather than learning a different history based on religious values and sentiments. It is highly criminal in the modern era to provide an education that is only based on faith and where this kind of education completely kills the questioning ability of the child. Religious beliefs are important in one’s life, but if children from the beginning are given an education only based on any particular religion, then it is the parents of the child who are pushing him on a different direction with complete certainty of educational segregation. It is a common fact that Muslim woman have less of say compared to a western woman. The Muslim society does not allow females to wear the choice of clothing they wish to, as any attire that might not be suitable in their eyes becomes vulgar and misappropriate for them. Even living in this highly modern era, they evaluate a woman’s respect with the choice of clothes they wear instead of the regular veil. It is also a fact that in their holy book it is mentioned to respect and value the female wholeheartedly. But somehow because of over orthodox thinking young girls are not allowed to live the life or choose the pattern they want for them. When it comes to educating Muslim girls, the chances of co-ed education gets eliminated for secondary classes. This leaves a big hole in their social development and creates patterns of isolation amongst themselves. This also further progresses a pattern of being left out and only inspires them to remain and interact only in their community. The other disadvantages of complete Muslim education are the choice of jobs the children undertake once they grow up. They prefer to work in shops and offices that only have Muslims around as their tolerance level for other communities is at bare minimum and they start developing an ideology that other people are impure sown in with bad sentiments and religious beliefs. The worst problem however is fundamentalists and extremists can take advantage of these innocent children and can put the seeds of hatred in their minds. The following indented paragraph will shed evidence of Madrassas being used as hatred centers for westerners. Canter stressed he was not against all faith schools, only those that preached strict adherence to a particular religion such as Pakistan's Islamic madrasas, he said there was "no doubt" that religious segregation contributed to terrorism in Northern Ireland. Faith schools are terribly dangerous. Setting up these divisions based on faith and religion is the starting point for people thinking of themselves as separate and distinct and part of some out-group. (MacLeod.2008) There have been evidences where it has been calibrated that terrorists who have been caught have mostly been educated in Madrassas and have been brainwashed from childhood against other religions and western policies. A child must not be taught of atrocities or injustice happening in a different country and should not be instigated to fight for the wrong reasons. Since Muslim Schools only take Muslim students an immediate segregation is created during admission. These schools further only preach about Islam and do not show concern for education students for mutual co-existence and tolerance for each other. The following indented paragraph will showcase the singular educational approach of these schools and the concern of Britain’s chief inspector of schools: I worry that many young people are being educated in faith-based schools with little appreciation of their wider responsibilities and obligations to British society. Many of these new faith schools are being opened by a younger generation of British Muslims, who recognize that traditional Islamic education does not entirely fit pupils for their lives as Muslims in modern Britain (Jun.2005) Muslim schools also are completely cutting off children from the society they live in and also very seriously hampering their chances of social understanding. Muslim schools ban chess, cricket and even music. Other schools also ban dance, sports and even Shakespeare as they justify it to be against Islam. Not all Muslim schools follow this ban, only some of them. However these schools also try to make promote Pakistani lifestyles to children as an ideal way of living. The most contradictory part is Muslims all round the world wish to have their community members in high prolific places, yet they wish to curb their own children’s cognitive abilities and their chances for development. Today because of the high fundamentalism in schools, surveys have shown results where the young and teenage children are more driven by Islamic fanatics rather than their parents or even grandparents. These young generations with limited development abilities are becoming more of hardliners and have started showing signs of discomforts when they are brought in situations to interact and mix with the British society Any faith based school always tries to promote more of its faith to students, but the problem with Muslim schools is it does not wish to entertain children of other communities, and if they are admitted than it becomes a compulsion for females to dress ‘hijabs’ while coming to school. The problem with Muslim schools is it not wanting to accept the westernized society staying on western soil. Such attitude can only create problems and confrontations amongst the local residents and can cause race riots. Also in their pretext to preach education via Islamic look, they are degenerating children’s growing capacity by eliminating the fun aspects of their life. Though recent developments are showing that Muslim schools are performing better in GCSE exams, the schools are still debating whether children need to learn and enjoy dancing. The common notion of the general public is against increment of more Muslim school due to its high segregation. However due to Lady Uddin’s effort who has been a staunch supporter of Muslim schools, the government has taken steps to increase the no. of Muslim schools across the country. Lady Uddin has been advocating the rise of these schools as she considers shutting or not increasing these schools would portray the government to be hypocritical for other faith schools. In deem of politics the British government has taken steps to fund more of these schools. However these schools have come under the scanner of security departments of the government and is closely monitoring the sequence of events occurring in these schools. Britain is a nation that is collating different cultures and races as one society. Today the British society comprises of various ethnic origins. The nation is one of the few that has openly welcomed multi cultures in its societies. However today, the country is having a conflict of interest on its support thinking for minority communities. The following indented paragraph will validate the point that the sentiments of the people get accustomed to the politics of the nation: In so far as there is at all a common object lying behind the obviously ambiguous term 'nation', it is apparently located in the field of politics. One might well define the concept of nation in the following way: a nation is a community of sentiment which would adequately manifest itself in a state of its own; hence, a nation is a community which normally tends to produce a state of its own. (Ratcliffe.1996.Page 29) The segregation of Muslim schools is a topic that has opened up the Pandora’s Box. In true sense a true Muslim man according to their holy book should be an advocate for compassion, justice and tolerance for others. Extremists and Islamic terrorists have given a bad name to the religion and have caused great shame to the true followers of the religion. Terrorists being caught from madrassas or venom speeches held in such institutes have come in the limelight. Any educational institute when gets linked with an national sentiments or any ideology that cross national interests it immediately comes under the wrath of common people. The sentiment of jobs being stolen from other ethnic origins was anyways incurring in western societies. To add fire to this sentiment, evidences of terrorism from the same community have cause great amount of unrest amongst British citizens belonging to the Caucasian race. This is one of the prime reasons which further have denigrated the image of Muslim schools. Moreover the ideologies of Muslim schools are based on active segregation which adds more fuel to the fire ignited by hardliners. This is exactly why police authorities have been trying to decipher the School head or the guest lecturer’s speeches. The segregation has brought them to a point where they are looked with constant doubts. The following indented paragraph will explain this happening in Britain: This was certainly true in the case of Muslim communities in Britain. The teachings of Imams in mosques now entered the public sphere: they were no longer regarded as a private matter. Those felt to be guilty of sedition were singled out, especially those suspected of connections. (Ratcliffe.2004.Page 9) Muslim school’s admission procedures of charging fees from parents when it has been state funded and also its open non white admissions have given these schools a bad name. Faith schools that accept children of all religions and give substantial education are more respected. There is a difference between teaching the religion to the child and teaching the entire syllabus through a religious angle. Educational committees have always being created to infuse solutions for similar matters, where the future of a child does not get compromised because of unhealthy thinking and ideologies. The Rampton and Swann reports were came much into limelight because of the solutions that were recommended and the solutions that were implemented. Swann’s reports always proffered implementation techniques based on higher cultural diversity within educational curriculums. His report clearly mentioned that this approach should be utilized not to appease the minority but to enhance the children’s mind horizons. His report had crucial multicultural and anti-racial suggestions for the uplift of educational system in Great Britain in the year 1985. In the year 1988, the National Curriculum was devised in England. Today there are added features to the curriculum and a key subject of ‘citizenship’ has been incorporated in schools to help children be more tolerant towards other races and teaches them to be non-discriminating. This makes the common public more aggravated, that their children are learning the concept of tolerance in British society, where as children in Madrassas are being segregated and are taught to only mingle amongst their own people. Issues and matters that affect the tolerance level for each other’s communities and create an atmosphere of hatred and unrest. The more intermingling of the races, the more understanding for the need to provide each other their ‘space’ would be assimilated. In the pretext of segregation both communities of Muslims and of British Caucasians are trying to draw their own parallels. The Muslims want rise in Islamic schools to match the faith schools of Jews and Christians. On the other hand, the white population has its own dogma against segregation especially after the rise of fanatic terrorism. Racism towards each other however is the root cause for anti-sentiments inhabited by them. The following indented paragraph will explain the core ethos of racism and in tolerance towards each other: Race prejudice, on the other hand, is a social attitude propagated among the public by an exploiting class for the purpose of stigmatizing some group as inferior so that the exploitation of either the group itself or its resources or both may be justified. (Ratcliffe.1981.Page 114) Peter Ratcliffe in his piece of ‘higher education, race and the inclusive society’ has greatly mentioned the need for a systemized and synchronized education system in Europe especially UK to develop into a complete multi-cultural society. The following indented paragraph reflects Peter Ratcliffe’s view on the importance of education from his piece higher education, race and the inclusive society: There can be no doubt that education is central to the quest for greater social equality, and higher education in particular has major potential as a means of promoting significant upward social mobility on the part of disadvantaged groups. (Allen, Hammarth &Teranishi. 2006.Page 131) There are numerous aspects that are associated with the children who are studying in Muslim schools and facing the British society on the outside. These children lead very confusing lives for a long time in their lives before they start accepting the religion as the only source of life. In most scenarios the parents of these children are not religion eccentrics, yet they send their wards to acquire such education. The child is anyways confused because of different teachings in the school and sees a different culture at home. The child gets filled with suppressed emotions more against his parents for not following each step of Koran. Muslim school children tend to isolate themselves from children of other communities and less tolerant towards Jewish children of the same neighborhood. They step into the institute were the normal activities of a British society is termed as illegitimate and when they come out of the school they are looked with repressed anger and welcomed with racism. Muslim children in public schools face racism at high levels and the following indented paragraph will put forth the racism subjected by Muslim children on their way home: School bus drivers have been accused of racism after failing to stop for pupils wearing Muslim Hijabs. Young girls have claimed they are being bullied on board for dressing in the traditional veil which covers the head. To avoid trouble, cowardly drivers are allegedly ignoring pupils who wait at the bus stops wearing the headscarf. (Driver 2010) However the case is also vice versa and the children in Muslim Schools in some cases are also taught demeaning things about non-Muslim people, making them have a feeling of superiority. The following indented paragraph will bring the evidence of how racism is taught and bred in some Muslim schools: Colin Cook told the tribunal in Watford that pupils were taught from Arabic books that likened Jews and Christians to “monkeys” and “pigs” at The King Fahad Academy, which is funded and run by the Saudi Arabian Government. (Frean.2008) Muslims staying in UK have also not supported the British society from within on many accounts, which is why when there is a cricket match between England and Pakistan, there would be more people cheering for Pakistan and booing the England team in home grounds like Oval and Lords. The following indented paragraphs displays the incident of some of the British Muslims not supporting the British troops when it meant the most for the country: 29 nine year old, the middle class son of a British Rail engineer who came to Britain from Pakistan, was among those hurling abuses at the soldiers in Luton He was once the leader of the town’s branch of extremist Islamic group Al-Muharjiroun (Bracchi.2009) Incidents like this create big rifts between communities and eventually it is the anti socials and anti nationals who win the battle for causing unwarranted violence and disruption of peace. Today the entire world including United Kingdom is diagnosed with ‘Islamaphoibia’. Anybody with a beard and Middle Eastern looks becomes an instant suspect. After the 7/7 attacks, Muslims have been subjected to a lot of racism. There have been cases reported were Muslim school children have been beaten up on racist accounts after the metro blasts. Today Muslims are looked with suspicion because of the negativity displayed by terrorists for religious cause. The negativity caught by adults are imitated by children, and racism and hatred gets spread down to the lower generations. The problem lies with both the stands. Muslim schools should cater more responsibility of flexing children with more tolerance and should educate them to mix with the overall British society. Muslim children should learn that if they are residents of UK, they should value the culture and ethos of the nation and should be a part of the country when the nation is in adversity. The schools should value the English educational norms and should not violate any rules or regulations by beating and abusing children while teaching them Islamic values and Koran (Kerbaj.2008) Muslim schools always tend to segregate more because of its ideologies and principles. Parents of students feel that their children are safer in environment which would be free from drugs, sex and alcohol. Also the racism that is felt by Muslim students in public schools will not be felt by these students. However in their pretext to do so, students face isolation from society and get more emotional closed than other children. Also the children are not allowed for fun and dance which robs their innocence and childhood. Muslim schools will only increase more if the government wishes to strengthen their trust with the country’s Islamic crowd. There have to efforts drawn in where in the fight of racism of two communities, the children don’t get sacrificed and they are not kept away from the required educational apparatus. Faith schools are the oldest way of including minorities in the society, but somehow the segregation of Muslim schools is hampering them and their image in the society. Moreover special attention should be given to the curriculum provided by such schools to students. There would be a very few Muslim school who might teach extreme Islam to children, but the rest of the schools also get embarrassed for them because of the isolation that exist between the communities. Reference: MacLeod.D.2008.’ Faith schools 'help foster terrorists'.(Updated at September 9,2008).Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/09/faithschools.terrorism (Accessed April 25, 2010) Jun.J.2005. ‘UK-New Muslim Schools Come Under Criticism For Alienating Pupils From Mainstream’. (Updated at January 28,2005).Available at http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1057146.html (Accessed April 25,2010) Ratcliffe.P.1996.’ Race", ethnicity and nation: international perspectives on social conflict’. Routledge Ratcliffe.P.2004. ‘Race, ethnicity and difference: imagining the inclusive society’. Open University Press Ratcliffe.P.1981.’ Racism and reaction: a profile of Handsworth’. Routledge. Allen.W, Hammarth. M & Teranishi.R 2006. ‘Higher education in a global society: achieving diversity, equity and excellence’. Emerald Group Publishing Driver.C.2010. ‘Racist school bus drivers refusing to stop for young Muslim girls who are wearing the hijab’. (Updated at February 26, 2010).Available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1253926/Racist-school-bus-drivers-ignoring-Muslim-girls-wear-hijab.html. (Accessed April 25, 2010) Frean.A.2008. ‘Teacher accuses Islamic school of racism’. (Updated at April 15, 2010).Available at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3746920.ece (Accessed April 25, 2010) Bracchi.P.2009. ‘ Britons who hate Britain: the Muslim extremists hell-bent on segregation rather than integration’. (Updated on March 14, 2010).Available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1161855/Britons-HATE-Britain-The-Muslim-extremists-hell-bent-segregation-integration.html (Accessed April 25, 2010) Kerbaj.R.2008. ‘Teachers 'beat and abuse Muslim children in British Koran classes’. (Updated on December 10, 2008) Available at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5315021.ece (Accessed April 25, 2010) Read More