Imams to Give Citizenship Lessons

May 17, 2007

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6665317.stm

Mosques are being urged to provide citizenship lessons for the thousands of youngsters they see daily.

About 100,000 UK youngsters attend Islamic religious schools attached to mosques - madrasas - every day.

A new curriculum aims to tackle extremism and counter messages about perceived clashes between Islam and British culture.

It was drawn up by a group of mosques in Bradford and is being backed by the Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly.

It comes after an independent study into radicalism in local communities by academics at Durham University suggested a "step change" in traditional religious leadership was needed to tackle radicalism.

Ms Kelly said: "We cannot afford to allow our young people to be intimidated and influenced by extremist messages.