State school pupils are set to be taught Islamic traditions and values in compulsory citizenship lessons. The move – part of a package of initiatives announced by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears yesterday – is designed to curb extremism. Education campaigners warned however against giving Islam a privileged position over other faiths.
David Conway, senior research fellow at the Civitas think-tank, said: “Some will see this as another sign of a creeping process of Islamisation – an insidious process which plays down the Christian basis of our culture and encourages children to learn more and more about Islam’s contribution.
“Muslims are still a relatively small minority in Britain and, while I have nothing against children in our multi-religious society learning about each other’s faiths, for one particular faith to be privileged in mainstream schools seems to me pointless, and won’t make for greater harmony. I fear it will play into the hands of the small minority who want to see the Islamisation of Europe, and believe they will triumph through sheer numbers.”