North Rhine-Westphalia: Islamic studies gain foothold in state schools

North Rhine-Westphalia: Islamic studies gain foothold in state schools



Via the Local:
German Education officials are making moves to establish Islamic studies as a regular subject in North Rhine-Westphalia's public schools, in line with other religious courses about Catholic or Protestant Christianity.

There have been several pilot projects to teach principals of the faith to German pupils, who are offered the option religious instruction in most state schools. But a vote by the NRW parliament will give it a more permanent foothold until at least 2018, when the effectiveness of the instruction will be comprehensively evaluated.

Although there is demand for the courses – there are about 300,000 Muslim students in the state’s schools – Islamic studies classes have been controversial throughout Germany.

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