Camden New Journal - News: 'Close schools for Muslim holidays'

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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 19 April 2007

Cllr Andrew Mennear

‘Close schools for Muslim holidays’

Days off for festivals would improve results – report

CLOSING schools on the Muslim holy day of Eid would help pupils achieve better results, according to a new report commissioned by the Town Hall’s education department.
Unveiled at a conference organised by Camden Council on Tuesday, two reports studying truancy levels among pupils of Bengali and Somali origin found that taking days off for religious festivals was a key factor in the poor attendance records of some Muslim pupils.
The authors also found that Bengali and Somali parents can find the school system “mystifying” and teachers “intimidating”.
Backed by education psychologists at the Tavistock Clinic and the Kentish Town Somali Welfare Association, the reports drew on interviews with parents, pupils, academics, community groups and educationalists.
The conference heard recommendations that the Town Hall should close all schools to cater for Muslim pupils in the borough’s education system, or alternatively aim to structure teacher training days to fall on Eid.
However, education chief Conservative councillor Andrew Mennear dismissed the idea. He said: “Muslims are still a comparatively small proportion of the school population and I cannot see a blanket day off happening. However, individual schools could make the decision for themselves and work it into the school year.”
Other recommendations included working out a reward scheme for parents whose children had good attendance records, and holding workshops to explain the law regarding schooling to parents who do not speak English at home.
Somali report author Abdullahi Hussein, from the Institute of Education in Bloomsbury, said: “The closing of schools becomes a holiday which all pupils and teachers would look forward to. This would show an equal treatment of Muslim pupils.”
He added that Town Hall figures revealed that truancy among Somali pupils had recently increased and with many families taking two days out from school for Eid, Muslim pupils were losing a joint total of around 8,000 school days a year for the religious festival.
Both Bangladeshi and Somali pupils were at school for less time than the average figures.
Bangladeshi pupils have 89 per cent attendance and Somali children attend 91 per cent of the time, compared to an average of 93 per cent for other ethnic groups.
The report added that although most Somali pupils in Camden were born in the UK and speak good English, they are not doing well at school.
Mr Hussein said: “Different factors contribute to this, but there is concern that truancy related problems could be a major cause.”

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