Scotland’s only Muslim school was last week given just three months to improve its performance or face closure. The Imam Muhammad Zakariya School for girls in Dundee received its second poor report from education watchdogs, who said it had not “addressed sufficiently” concerns raised following a previous inspection a year ago.
The only other Muslim school founded in Scotland – Iqra Academy in Glasgow – shut two years ago after it too was criticised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMI). Both schools were independently run, prompting calls for Scotland to have its first state-funded Muslim school in order to ensure their quality.
Osama Saeed of the Muslim Association of Britain argues that Scotland’s Muslims, like the country’s Catholics and Jews, should have state-funded schools as a matter of urgency.