LONDON — After knocking down giant firms and causing massive layoffs, the global economic downturn is pushing almost all British Muslim schools towards closure. "The economic crisis has put them under enormous pressure and they are getting through each day with great difficulty,'' Mohammed Mukadhum, the chairman of the Association of Muslim Schools (AMS), told the BBC News Online.
Most Muslim schools in Britain rely on donations and fees to cover costs.
The schools need about £2000 per pupil per year to stay afloat, but the economic meltdown has dried up donations and turned many parents unable to pay fees.
''The possibility of closing down is a looming reality and the smaller schools are the ones that are most vulnerable,'' said Mukadhum.
The Muslim leader said that the private schools are now hand-to-mouth organizations, operating on a shoestring budget.
''Many of them have been relatively recently established so there has always been some financial struggle."
There are 130 Muslim schools in Britain, including 119 private ones and eleven in the state sector.
There are some 400,000 Muslim students in Britain, home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.4 million.
A financial firestorm swept the US and the world last year after the demise of Lehman Brothers, one of the Wall Street giants.
It has knocked down many major companies worldwide, causing mounting job losses, falling household wealth and forcing consumers to hold back on spending.
Loss
Muslim educators are concerned that the schools’ closure would leave no option for Muslim parents but to send their children abroad for low-fee education. ''It will be very sad because they won't get the same quality of education and some may just end up getting married and not completing their studies at all,'' said Hojjat Ramzy, head teacher of Iqra Girls' School in Oxford, one of private schools facing closure.
Many Muslim parents tend to send their children to Pakistan and Bangladesh to complete study.
''I love it here, I get to learn about my religion and I can talk openly about it," said Zainab Rahman, a seven-grade students at Iqra Girls' School.
"But if this school shuts down, I won't have anywhere to go," she said, fearing that her parents will send her to Pakistan to study and live with her relatives there.
Her best class mate was sent to Pakistan last month because her parents could not afford the school fees.
''She didn't really have a choice and had to go abroad," Rahman said.
"I've lost touch with her since."
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the defaulting Muslim schools can join the state sector to get all running costs from the government.
But school officials see the option unworkable as it would give the government more substantial influence in how the schools are run.
''They want to remain independent and so they will have to try to survive by themselves," Mukadhum said.
"If they are unable to do so it will mean a great loss for all the parents, teachers and students involved.”
Source: IslamOnline
Most Muslim schools in Britain rely on donations and fees to cover costs.
The schools need about £2000 per pupil per year to stay afloat, but the economic meltdown has dried up donations and turned many parents unable to pay fees.
''The possibility of closing down is a looming reality and the smaller schools are the ones that are most vulnerable,'' said Mukadhum.
The Muslim leader said that the private schools are now hand-to-mouth organizations, operating on a shoestring budget.
''Many of them have been relatively recently established so there has always been some financial struggle."
There are 130 Muslim schools in Britain, including 119 private ones and eleven in the state sector.
There are some 400,000 Muslim students in Britain, home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.4 million.
A financial firestorm swept the US and the world last year after the demise of Lehman Brothers, one of the Wall Street giants.
It has knocked down many major companies worldwide, causing mounting job losses, falling household wealth and forcing consumers to hold back on spending.
Loss
Muslim educators are concerned that the schools’ closure would leave no option for Muslim parents but to send their children abroad for low-fee education. ''It will be very sad because they won't get the same quality of education and some may just end up getting married and not completing their studies at all,'' said Hojjat Ramzy, head teacher of Iqra Girls' School in Oxford, one of private schools facing closure.
Many Muslim parents tend to send their children to Pakistan and Bangladesh to complete study.
''I love it here, I get to learn about my religion and I can talk openly about it," said Zainab Rahman, a seven-grade students at Iqra Girls' School.
"But if this school shuts down, I won't have anywhere to go," she said, fearing that her parents will send her to Pakistan to study and live with her relatives there.
Her best class mate was sent to Pakistan last month because her parents could not afford the school fees.
''She didn't really have a choice and had to go abroad," Rahman said.
"I've lost touch with her since."
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said the defaulting Muslim schools can join the state sector to get all running costs from the government.
But school officials see the option unworkable as it would give the government more substantial influence in how the schools are run.
''They want to remain independent and so they will have to try to survive by themselves," Mukadhum said.
"If they are unable to do so it will mean a great loss for all the parents, teachers and students involved.”
Source: IslamOnline
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