The British government will unveil new plans to send Muslim imams into schools to teach students against extremism and lecture them about citizenship and multiculturalism, reported the Telegraph on Saturday, May 31.
"A very small number of young people of school age may already be at risk of being drawn into criminal activity inspired by violent extremists," said Schools Secretary Ed Ball.
The plans, to be announced on Tuesday, envisage sending British-born imams to schools to teach students about citizenship and multiculturalism.
The imams will also instruct students about equality between the sexes, the sanctity of life and the rights of the individual.
"Extremists of every persuasion tend to paint the world as black and white ... exploiting fears based on ignorance," said Ball.
"Education can be a powerful weapon against this."
The plans are part of a £90m-a-year government scheme to fight extremism.
The scheme also includes extra funding and support for imams working in prisons and training for prison staff to prevent radicalization of Muslim inmates.
Britain's prisons watchdog has warned that a deep sense of alienation and insensitive treatment of staff push Muslims at the high security Belmarsh jail towards radicalization.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said last month that the British government plans to invite Asian imams to help fight extremism.
Divisive
The imams will be vetted for their views before being sent to schools.
"There will be engagement criteria set down in the document that will help schools make sure they only work with those groups which uphold our shared values of tolerance, respect and equality and who reject and condemn violent extremism," said a government source.
"There will be no question of people with the wrong sort of views being able to go into schools."
But the new British guidelines have sparked concerns.
Andrew Copson, director of education at the British Humanist Association, described the government's policy as "divisive".
Children should learn about religion as part of their education, he said.
The umbrella British Muslim Council also sounded uneasy about the plans.
"Handing responsibility for the education of children to publicly funded clerics is by its very nature divisive and an improper role for Government in a society that values freedom of belief," said MCB assistant secretary-general Inayat Bunglawala.
There are some 400,000 Muslim students in Britain, home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2 million.
Source: Islam Online (English)
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