The London School of Islamics sent out an article this week in which Iftikhar Ahmad said he believed the Association of Muslim Governors [AMG] and Muslim Council of Britain [MCB] should campaign for more state funded Muslim schools rather than asking for more Muslim governors in state schools.

It would appear that while the AMG is making an effort to encourage Muslim participation in society by running a campaign to recruit Muslim school governs in Britain’s mainstream education system, Mr Ahmad would prefer a lack of participation and increased segregation.

He himself was a school Governor – the first Muslim governor in fact – in Newham in the 70s. In his article he noted that he left the position after 3 years as he felt it a waste of time. Did he consider that three years is a short period in which to achieve a notable difference? Does he really believe that when faced with difficualty the best option is to quit and promote segrated schooling?

While it is true that the number of Muslim schools is on the increase, I’m not sure on which basis or foundation Mr Ahmed asserts that the silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to Muslim schools. He should also be careful when making what could be noted as slanderous comments, as he states – with reference to Stratfrod School in Newham in the 90s- that “the head teacher took early retirement and was awarded round about two hundred and fifty thousands pounds as a reward for getting rid of Muslim governors”. This is clearly speculative, as I doubt the council noted this on the head teacher’s record of achievment. Perhaps there was a reason for awarding the high severance pay. I would certainly like to hear from the council’s representatives on the matter to gain a better understanding of why all the school’s governors - the majority Msulim, says Mr Ahmad - were dismissed, rather than purely reading speculative critisism from a man who is clearly promoting segregation.

Mr Ahmad argues his case for segregation and an increase in Muslim schools primarilly on the grounds that Muslim pupils are bilingual and that ignoring children’s bilingualism is “educational failure and social exclusion”. The majority, if not all, schools in the UK teach a second language. If a community has a large Pakistani or Arab majority then it may be an option to encourage the local schools to offer Urdu or Arabic as a second language option instead of (or in addition to) the traditional French or Spanish. That would also make the choice available to non-Muslim students and foster dialogue and understanding, rather than the segregated “we’re different” approach of Muslim-only schools – which are in fact the perpetrators of social exclusion by encouraging a minority to separate themselves through the fundamentals of education and childhood.

Mr Ahmad’s main concern, and argument, appears to be that “Muslim children are disadvantaged by an education system that perpetuates inequalities.” Be this true or not, I would still not consider segregation a solution as it encourages difference instead of tolerance and the development of communication.

The British education system has a lot of flaws, but while the AMG appears to be making an effort to address the issue of representation by appealing for more Muslim governors in British state schools, it concerns me that organisations like the LSI continue to reject such initiatives without even giving them a genuine try. I am not a fan of the current government, but I am a fan of governance and participation. It is not blindly and without some scepticism that I welcome the appeal for more Muslim governors; but with optimism and an understanding that I do not have the right to critisise what I reject offhand and make no atempt to enagage with.