National Secular Society
Friday, October 17, 2008
Cllr Paul McGlone, Lambeth’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “We’re pleased that we can provide a free education at this popular school. It’s a rarity for any borough to have one, let alone two, state-funded Muslim schools and we believe it helps us meet the needs of Lambeth’s diverse community.”
As a state school, Iqra will follow the national curriculum while retaining its religious ethos and a large amount of Koranic studies. Interim head of school Firdos Qazi said: “The parents, pupils and the community are pleased that Lambeth have accepted them as part of their family of schools. We are looking forward to working with our friends and neighbours to make a school of which they and we can be proud.”
The school, which is based in two four-storey Victorian houses, will share resources with two other Lambeth primary schools — Loughborough and Kings Avenue — using sports and IT facilities, kitchen, and classrooms. Iqra Primary School currently has 100 pupils, aged four to 11 years plus a nursery. Around 60 per cent of the school’s population are Somali. Orchard Primary School in Brixton Hill became Lambeth’s first state-funded Muslim school in September 2006.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, commented: “This is no cause for celebration. Not only has Lambeth Council ensured that these children will now be taught in isolation from the mainstream, and will therefore find it difficult to function in a diverse society in later life, but they have delivered them into the hands of theocrats who will drill religion into their heads relentlessly. This school does not contribute to diversity, it simply accentuates separation.”
Source: National Secular Society, Oct 17, 2008