Australian Muslim parents prefer Islamic schools to prevent harassment

Seeking better education for their kids, a growing number of Australian Muslim parents were enrolling their children in Islamic schools, seeing it as the best way to avoid bullying and harassment they face in state schools.

Statistics revealed by Federal Education Department showed that 28,267 students attended Australia’s 39 Islamic schools last year.

The number indicates an 82 percent increase from the 15,503 who were enrolled in 32 schools in 2009.

On the other hand, the number of students enrolling in Australian schools grew by 6 percent over the same period.

In six schools controlled by Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, which receives 80 percent of funding from government along with other Islamic schools, the past five years witnessed a 53 percent increase in enrollment as well.

“Academic focus is one of the reasons parents choose our schools but mainly it’s the values we provide, and the ­religious education,” Abdullah Khan, president of the Islamic Schools Association of Australia (ISAA), told The Australian on Monday.

Khan noted also that only three out of four Muslim students in Australia attended public schools.

He explained that the rise in enrolments at Islamic schools as a direct result of the Muslim population growth.
But Tasmanian teacher Peter Jones, who spent time in most of Australia’s Muslim schools to research his thesis on Islamic education, had another opinion, referring the rise in enrolments to bullying Muslim kids face at schools.

“Many parents and students felt the kids were more sheltered in these schools,” he said.

“They felt a bit more protected from the community because of hostility. People have been pulling their hijabs off and ­spitting at them.”

Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population.



/257