Birmingham Schools Deny Evidence of Islamic Infiltration..........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27763113


Staff  and governors of six schools in Birmingham have denied that there is an agenda to turn them into hotbeds of Islamic extremism and deny that having a school trip to Syria was purely "educational" and had nothing to do with terrorist training.

The school's head of geography said the field trip was an "unparalleled success" despite criticism from OFSTED after only seven of the 30 strong party returned alive from the 8 day stay in Aleppo.

School spokesman Ahmed bin Jihaddi told reporters "It is important for children to compare farming techniques in arid, sub-desert conditions with an area such as Cornwall which provides a net surplus of food for Britain.  "That they achieved this under constant bombardment from the murderer Assad and his evil henchmen is a testament to the hard work they have put in this year.  I expect those who survived will do very well in their GCSE's, Allah willing."

He did concede that some of the boys have been a little over mischievous when they brought down a government helicopter with a rocket propelled grenade launcher, but said that he had written to their parents who were very supportive and described their sons as "young scamps" who had simply been indulging in "high spirits" and were definitely not learning how to pursue a future career in guerrilla warfare.

Mr Jihaddi went on to add that next year's field trip is planned to visit downtown Baghdad where year five pupils will learn about the damaging effect that the infidel has wrought on the local economy.

I'd love to seriously comment on Trojan Horse, but being opposed to Islamic extremism apparently makes you an "Islamophobe" and a "racist".   

And as for wanting religion (all religion) removed from the education system in this country..I have no idea what that makes me. I'd say forward-thinking!

Duty281 wrote:I'd love to seriously comment on Trojan Horse, but being opposed to Islamic extremism apparently makes you an "Islamophobe" and a "racist".   

And as for wanting religion (all religion) removed from the education system in this country..I have no idea what that makes me. I'd say forward-thinking!

Just poke fun at it...!! Satirise the whole thing. You won't change anything and a lot of people won't even find it funny but hell, at least you'll have a laugh doing it. I do.

Just makes me sad that such a serious subject can be played out to a political agenda.

And still both Cons and Labour are using it for point scoring.

All religons should be taught in school, no exceptions. That way every pupil learns the differences between them and why it's not worth fighting over which God people believe in. I also think atheism should be taught as part of this to show that just because someone doesn't believe makes them a bad person and vice versa.

All mockery aside and putting my sensible head back on for a minute, I think Derbymanc makes a valid point, but I see it from an obverse point of view, that is:  Treat all religions equally.  Teach none of them.  

Religion is one of the most divisive issues in any society.  It causes far more conflict than just about anything else.  To be honest, I don't see any reason why it needs to be taught in schools at all.   If families have religious beliefs, they can take their children to the church of their choice and the priests, rabbis, mullahs or whatever can fill the kids heads full of sky fairy stories to their hearts content.  

Those who don't want to live their life on their knees, bowing to a deity of extremely dubious provenance can have the time saved by schools not teaching such nonsense (in my opinion), better spent teaching children something far more useful, such as how to write their own name legibly.

Just as an aside.... I am a regular contributor on several discussion forums and this one is distinctive in my view for one notable reason.... the amount of discussion on the subject of religion is negligible.   Go onto any discussion forum site that is based in the USA, or has a significant number of American contributors, and just about every topic is eventually dragged into the religious arena by the hardcore elements.  But it's not just them.... once one of the God Squad starts, every other American on the site joins in and the whole thread becomes lost in the welter of religious in-fighting.   It's terribly irritating.

This, being a British forum, happily does not have such a disruptive element.  We eschew religious discussion and are none the worse for that.

Why can't we do this in our schools..?  Throw the Bible, Torah, Koran and all the other religious texts out and just get on with teaching kids the things they really need to know.

I really agree Fl.

Religion as a topic with friends, i tend to stay away from because it can get quite heated and no one ever backs down.

But how do you go about it without upsetting one religion or the other? Hard to do.

Dm says you should teach atheism, but what is to teach? It is just like saying everything i am saying to you is made up.

Although myself being an atheist, and it really should not, but one thing that does upset me is that according to government figures the UK will be a Muslim main religion in 50 years.

Derbymanc wrote:All religons should be taught in school, no exceptions. That way every pupil learns the differences between them and why it's not worth fighting over which God people believe in. I also think atheism should be taught as part of this to show that just because someone doesn't believe makes them a bad person and vice versa.

What about Jediism, Scientology, etc... There are so many religions its all kids would be learning!

Gentlemen: Thank you for your comments. When I placed my original post, although it was clearly a "tongue in cheek" thing, I was a little concerned it may attract those who (shall we say) might not see the funny side of what is, in truth, a serious subject. I'm glad the comments have been as committed as ever without getting heated.

Having said that, kingjohn makes a valid point and Skye's observation is also accepted.

To be honest, I'm not particularly bothered if one religion or another is top of any sort of league table of popular faiths. I'm capable of ignoring them all in equal measure. What does bother me is the amount of disruption, conflict, and adverse influence this subject puts into the minds of children in schools at a time in their lives when they are not cognitively equipped to see the deeper implications of things that they may be taught, by people they trust.

If there is a situation in the Birmingham schools (and a school in Bradford is now being brought into the mix) where maliciously motivated groups are attempting to subvert the minds of pupils then I think its helps to make the case for chucking the whole lot out.

I'm not saying that parents cannot teach their kids religion.... that's up to them as parents..... they should just do it themselves, in their own time, at their own expense and in an appropriate place (their own church).

As Dave Allen used to say: "May your God go with you".

I

There is a good and valid case for throwing religon off the curriculum altogether BUT what about the faith schools, COE, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish? These will continue to show THEIR religons regardless but if you tell them you have to also show the other religons it could help to educate children not to be prejudice or wary of other religons.

Kingjohn makes a very valid point but I think you'd have to concentrate on the main religons currently being practiced in Britain, this would (hopefully) help to combat some of the prejudice's that people have.

Also rather than have a lesson on each religon in turn, you'd be teaching the kids to accept all groups (including atheists,) This also allows for some good discussion as they get older and shows them that it's okay to talk about religon and give your opinions. Otherwise we're in danger of going the American route where whenever it's mentioned everyone is shouted down