Muslim Youths
Reader comment on item: Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy – An Islamist Charter School in Minnesota?
in response to reader comment: Turnabout is fair

Submitted by Iftikhar Ahmad (United Kingdom), Jan 26, 2009 at 13:20

Salaam

It is easy to say" Go back to where you came from",but do not forget that British Muslims are actually born and educated here. They are in the unenviable position of trying to combine two diffent worlds. That is no easy.

Multiculturalism is not about separation, ghettoisation or balkanisation. It is, instead, a recognition of both diversity and the need for common ground, mutual espect,and cultural engagement.

Muslims all over the world never opposed English as a language what they did was opposition of the English culture and their system of education. In Pakistan, the medium of instruction is English and the official language is both English and Urdu. Pakistan is going to send English teachers to Korea for the teaching of English language.

Muslim parents would like their children to be well versed in standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because state schools with monolingual teachers are not capable of teaching English to bilingual children.At the same time, they need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.
I am concerned with the education of the Muslim children. It is nothing to do with integration or segregation. Those state schools where Muslim children are in majority, in my opinion, may be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models.

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