Posted on 08/06/2005 5:16:14 PM PDT by naturalman1975
Parents of children at Werribee Islamic College have been concerned for some time about the poor quality of teaching by visiting imams and have made their concerns known to the management, The Sunday Age believes.
Parents are also said to be opposed to the decision to set up a school in Jakarta, believing the money should be used to improve the school and raise teaching standards.
Werribee Islamic College is believed to receive more than $6 million from the state and federal governments and raises $2 million from fees, believed to be about $2000 a year per child.
According to the Institute of Teaching, principal Omar Hallak holds no recognised teaching qualifications, although he has been issued with a restricted certificate to teach some minor grades. In Victoria, principals of non-government schools are not required to be qualified teachers.
There are seven Islamic schools in Victoria, employing about 360 teachers — many of them non-Muslims — and teaching about 5000 students. With government funding averaging $7000 per student, the total taxpayer commitment is well over $32 million a year.
The Sunday Age has been told that about 30 religious teachers were granted entry visas during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year. While most were sponsored by mosques, several with suspect backgrounds were given visas after lobbying from local Muslims and their activities during their stay were closely monitored.
Ekren Ozyurek, the principal of Mount Hira College in Keysborough, said he was in regular contact with ASIO and the federal police and that his school taught students to accept and integrate into Australian culture. He said there were no dress codes for his 200 students or staff.
"On the issue of the headscarf, it is not our policy to force it on people and we encourage students to decide those issues for themselves," Mr Ozyurek said. He said the Turkish community funded Mount Hira.
Mohamed Hassan, the Egyptian-born principal of Minaret College in Springvale, rejected any suggestions that Islamic schools should be brought under the control of Islamic community groups. "All schools are independently run and that is the way it should be; otherwise it becomes far too political," he said.
Mr Hassan, who is also a member of the Australian Council for Islamic Education in Schools, said Islamic schools were not open to influence by those who funded them. He said he knew of only two schools, including King Khalid College, that received money from Saudi Arabian sources.
"But I can assure you that there was no influence placed on these schools to teach a strict-form Wahhabi (a form of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia). The money was given just to get these schools started."
He said his students were taught "middle-stream" Islam and that his school had organised visits to Mount Scopus College, a Jewish school, to further understanding between Muslims and Jews. His students had also been involved in major peace projects and regularly met students from Caulfield Grammar.
Yeah, right.
But if the parents aren't happy with the education, it's not like they don't have other options.
Don't touch the fire. It will consume you . Losers.
Yeah, it's so hard to find good "middle-stream" imans these days.
Islamic education: Now there's a contradiction in terms!
State-sponsored mass suicide?
One would think that any old imam would be able to convey the requirement to kill all infidels. I suppose there might be some fine points on stealth and surprise that might require a more qualified imam.
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