The Role of OFSTED
Education of Bilingual Muslim Children
The new inspection system will have a tighter focus on preparing children for life in multicultural Britain. In my opinion the whole of British education system has been preparing children for a mono-cultural society rather than for life in multicultural Britain. Muslim children have been mis-educated and de-educated by state schools for the last 60 years. The whole world belongs to Muslims. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit. He/she must be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time he/she must be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with his/her cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. A child who has English as a second language is seen as having a special need – not as having a skill to be lauded from the rooftops. Bilingual children think in different way. Language has a profound effect in shaping the ways people think and act. State schools are slaughter houses and are not suitable for bilingual Muslim children. Muslim children in the UK may lose out when they join reception classes because the school’s values and language reflect those of the dominant native culture, rather than those of their. Almost all recent research literature agrees that if you want children whose home language is not English to excel in English –medium schools, it is important to nurture and acknowledge that first language alongside their English development. Cultivating bilingualism could and should promote pupil’s linguistic development. Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models.
Ofsted has only blamed Muslim schools for the failure. Students at Muslim schools achieved over 88% A/A* at GCSE. They turn out confident, well adjusted young people who are, in the main, passionate about learning as a lifelong process. Children leave schools with full self-confidence and self-esteem because they do not suffer from institutional racism in Muslim schools. Muslim teachers are true role models for them during their developmental periods.
The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right that should be available to all people irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background. Schools do not belong to state, they belong to parents. It is the parents’ choice to have faith schools for their children. Migrant Muslims are not economic slaves. They are part and parcel of British society with their own cultures, languages and faith. Migrant Muslims need to preserve and transmit their cultural, linguistic and spiritual identities; otherwise, they will be lost in the western jungle. Learning Arabic, Urdu and other community languages do not deter people from integrating. It helps them integrate. British schooling is at war with Migrant Muslims learning Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. Multilingualism should be celebrated because it is an asset but British education regards it as a problem.
