Wednesday, August 8, 2007

British Children told to copy lines from Muslim Call To Prayer - to practise their handwriting

Junior schoolchildren were told to copy lines of a Muslim prayer - for handwriting practice. The Call To Prayer copied by ten-year-olds at Newlands Primary School in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, included the lines "Allah is the greatest" and "there is no god but Allah". Angry parent Hayley Clayton told the Sun: "The explanation was that the children were learning about Islam in RE. "But this was like taking an oath. A Muslim child would never be asked to write a Bible passage."
Her stepson Billy Darbyshire was one of the classmates told by his teacher, deputy head Helen Green, to copy the prayer. "Why didn't she choose a passage from a normal story book to teach handwriting?" When she pointed out that three of the 7/7 suicide bombers came from Leeds just 15 miles away, Mrs Green acknowleged that it was a "sensitive issue". "If it's sensitive, why choose that prayer?" she asked.
Billy's dad Martin said there were no Muslims in the class."

Daily Mail, 6th August 2007

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