Re: Funding religious schools is bad policy

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Posted by Muslim Canadian Congress on 07:09:20 2007/08/11

In Reply to: Re: Accommodating Jihad in public schools posted by Cosmo French

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Funding religious schools is bad policy #storylinks .container01 .contentbox {padding:0;margin:0 0 0 8px;} #storylinks .container01 {padding:0 10px 0 0;} #footer_news {display:none;} #footer_news .footer_news_wrapper {padding:5px 10px 0 15px;} #footer_news .footer_news_container {float:left;border:1px solid gray;width:700px;} .footer_news_col {float:left;width:230px;padding:8px 0 0 0;} /* #body .footer_news_col .mediumimageright {float:left;} */ #page .footer_news_col .contentbox h4 a {color:#333;} #page .footer_news_col .mediumimageright {float:left;} /* Story headline alignment */ #page .footer_news_col .contentbox h4 {float:right;width:130px;} #page .footer_news_col #videocontent_medium .contentbox h4 {float:none;width:auto;} #body .footer_news_col .contentbox {padding:0 5px 0 5px;} #body #footer .rule {display: block;} Hello Alastair Your Account Sign Out Email canada.com, Newspapers, TV, Radio Home News Sports Entertainment Health Travel National Post Victoria Times Colonist The Province (Vancouver) Vancouver Sun Edmonton Journal Calgary Herald Regina Leader-Post Saskatoon StarPhoenix Windsor Star Ottawa Citizen The Gazette (Montreal) DOSE Vancouver Island Newspapers VANNET Newspapers Global TV Global National Global BC Global Calgary Global Edmonton Global Lethbridge Global Saskatoon Global Regina Global Winnipeg Global Ontario Global Quebec Global Maritimes CH TV CH Vancouver Island CH Red Deer CH Hamilton CH Montreal TVTropolis X-treme Sports Specialty Channels local classifieds working driving obituaries celebrating shopping renting contractors dating renting pets canada.com where perspectives connect National Post Home Search for in the National Post Jobs in Toronto working.com in Newspaper ads 10 year archive in FPinfomart in canada.com Saturday, August 11, 2007 National Post > News > Issues & Ideas Inside the National Post Columnists News Issues & Ideas Editorial Letters Living Living Here Post Homes Sports Weekend Post Diversions 30 days Archive Print Edition Inside the Financial Post Financial Post FP Markets FP Comment FP Weekend FP Trading Desk FP Summary FP 500 FP Market Data FP Investing Weekly Sections G3 Weddings Post Movies FP Working FP Weekend Weekend Post Driving Post Homes Toronto Magazine Travel Best Lawyers FP Working Monthly Sections FP500 Driving: Used vehicles FP Business Magazine Post Homes Magazine FP 500 Special Sections Features Toronto Man Walking Classifieds Employment Opportunities CanWest MediaWorks Marketplace Find a job at working.com Find a car at driving.ca Find real estate at Homes Find great stuff at shopping Announcements Announcements at Celebrating.com Obituaries at Remembering General Classifieds Local classifieds Meet a match at Connecting Enter our contests Your National Post Subscriber Services Renew subscription Update credit card information User Help Corrections Send us a news tip Advertise Contests Contact the Post Privacy Statement Letters To the editor About your event Site feedback --> Site feedback --> Site feedback Today's Post Criminal act or religious right? 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Such a plan would further ghettoize religious communities -- especially the Muslim community, which is already quite insular. Conservative Muslims may support Mr. Tory's plan, and downplay differences between Islamic and Canadian values in an attempt to win support for public funding. But step into their schools, and you may be shocked at what they're teaching. Email to a friend Printer friendly Font: * * * * In some Muslim schools, girls must pray behind boys, and segregation based on gender is advocated as a religious duty. This is obviously in conflict with Canadian norms. Furthermore, Muslim children, like other Canadian children, must be provided a full opportunity to explore their creative talents through instruction in subjects such as music, art, drama and dance --disciplines that are often shunned in Muslim schools due to educators' austere religious outlook. Advocates of public funding argue that such funding would ensure that private schools will be subject to more governmental oversight. They assert that extremism will be discouraged because curricula will be closely vetted. This ignores the reality that values within schools are rarely taught through formal curricula. Rather, it is the school culture which plays a dominant role in imparting values to children. If Mr. Tory's proposal leads to the funding of conservative Islamic schools, then Ontario taxpayers will be subsidizing an indoctrination program that treats Muslim girls as second-class citizens. Because faith-based education would become cheaper, and therefore more accessible for Muslim families, more Muslim children will attend religious schools, and therefore have less contact with other Canadians. In the mosques, a new generation of young Muslims will come to embrace a more orthodox and archaic understanding of Islam. Ontario would do better to gear its policies toward greater integration of ethnic and religious communities. Funding private religious schools will not advance diversity, which is best promoted in the public school system. There, children of all backgrounds can prepare to live together under a common set of Canadian values. Farzana Hassan is the president of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC). Salma Siddiqui is the senior vice-president of the MCC. © National Post 2007 Ads by Google Muslim Girl Magazine Books, music, movies and more! For North American Muslim girls! www.muslimgirlmagazine.com Mike Bloomberg Mike on Education. The Official Site of Mike Bloomberg. www.MikeBloomberg.com Student Loans Money For School, Expenses & More. Rates As Low as 4.55%. Apply Now. www.StudentsLoanEasy.com Inside the canada.com Network . Giant LEGO man a mystery A giant "LEGO" man has been washed... Watch Video Porsche Cayenne or Saab 9-3? See how Porsche fares against ... 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