CAIRO – Saudi plans to build a school in Ireland to meet the education needs of expatriate Saudis is meeting mixed reactions in the north-western European country. “It’s a very good plan,” Mohammed al-Saddique, 24, told The Irish Times on Saturday, December 12.
“I think there will be a lot of support for this because it addresses the needs of the Saudi community, and the Arab community here in general.”
Riyadh has announced plans to build a school in Dublin to serve the Saudi and Muslim community.
“We believe that a child should grow up with certain values, so putting them in a school with that kind of environment is essential,” said Saddique, a student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
“Parents will feel better knowing that their child is going to a school that won’t create such a culture shock.”
There are estimated 15 Saudi families in Ireland in addition to more than 400 Saudi nationals studying in the country.
There are two Muslim primary schools in Dublin.
Irish Muslims hope that the new school would offer secondary education.
(If true, this would achieve) a long-cherished Muslim ambition,” said Ali Selim, an Egyptian-born theologian at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh.
Liam Egan, an Irish revert to Islam, agrees.
A secondary school with an Islamic ethos “should be a priority,” said Egan, whose teenager daughter’s request to wear hijab at her Co Wexford school last year led the principal to call for official guidelines on the veil wearing in state schools.
Integration
But the school plan has sparked concerns in the European country.
A Saudi national in Ireland argues that similar Saudi schools in different cities worldwide have caused controversies over alleged intolerant textbooks.
But Saddique says that he is unaware of such allegations, stressing that Riyadh has itself reformed its own educational system in recent years.
Saudi Arabia has some 19 schools in different cities around the world.
Saddique hopes that the new school in Dublin would be open to Irish society.
“It should take in the context here in Ireland instead of having a strictly Saudi environment,” said Saddique.
“There should be an effort to address the other cultural values that exist in society here.”
Ireland is home to some 33,000 Muslims, making up about 1 percent of the total population, according to the 2006 census.
“This is important for integration. You have to be open to the society you live in, even if it is different.”
Source: IslamOnline
“I think there will be a lot of support for this because it addresses the needs of the Saudi community, and the Arab community here in general.”
Riyadh has announced plans to build a school in Dublin to serve the Saudi and Muslim community.
“We believe that a child should grow up with certain values, so putting them in a school with that kind of environment is essential,” said Saddique, a student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
“Parents will feel better knowing that their child is going to a school that won’t create such a culture shock.”
There are estimated 15 Saudi families in Ireland in addition to more than 400 Saudi nationals studying in the country.
There are two Muslim primary schools in Dublin.
Irish Muslims hope that the new school would offer secondary education.
(If true, this would achieve) a long-cherished Muslim ambition,” said Ali Selim, an Egyptian-born theologian at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh.
Liam Egan, an Irish revert to Islam, agrees.
A secondary school with an Islamic ethos “should be a priority,” said Egan, whose teenager daughter’s request to wear hijab at her Co Wexford school last year led the principal to call for official guidelines on the veil wearing in state schools.
Integration
But the school plan has sparked concerns in the European country.
A Saudi national in Ireland argues that similar Saudi schools in different cities worldwide have caused controversies over alleged intolerant textbooks.
But Saddique says that he is unaware of such allegations, stressing that Riyadh has itself reformed its own educational system in recent years.
Saudi Arabia has some 19 schools in different cities around the world.
Saddique hopes that the new school in Dublin would be open to Irish society.
“It should take in the context here in Ireland instead of having a strictly Saudi environment,” said Saddique.
“There should be an effort to address the other cultural values that exist in society here.”
Ireland is home to some 33,000 Muslims, making up about 1 percent of the total population, according to the 2006 census.
“This is important for integration. You have to be open to the society you live in, even if it is different.”
Source: IslamOnline
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