Jewish School Where Half Pupils Are Muslim!

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Jewish school where half pupils are Muslim! Feb 08, 2007
A positive story for a change - thanks to M & J blog for highlighting this:

http://education.independent.co.uk/scho ... 201860.ece

King David Primary School, (a state school in Birmingham, UK), which is a Jewish institution where half the pupils are Muslim.

It's infant prize day at King David School, a state primary in Moseley, Birmingham. The children sit cross-legged on the floor, their parents fiddling with their video cameras. The head, Steve Langford, is wearing a Sesame Street tie.

A typical end-of-term school event, then. But at King David there's a twist that gives it a claim to be one of the most extraordinary schools in the country: King David is a strictly Jewish school. Judaism is the only religion taught. There's a synagogue on site. The children learn modern Hebrew - Ivrit - the language of Israel. And they celebrate Israeli independence day.

But half the 247 pupils at the 40-year-old local authority-supported school are Muslim, and apparently the Muslim parents go through all sorts of hoops, including moving into the school's catchment area, to get their children into King David to learn Hebrew, wave Israeli flags on independence day and hang out with the people some would have us believe that they hate more than anyone in the world.

shafique
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Feb 08, 2007
Yup, faith schools in the UK are obliged to take a percentage of non-believers if they ask to join.
scot1870
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Feb 08, 2007
yup - the interesting point here is that all the kids learn Hebrew and the Jewish prayers - Muslim parents interviewed included ones that moved to the area so that they could send their kids to the school.

There are sikhs and christians in the school and the article states that a recent starter is Chinese - and he couldn't speak English when he joined, but now can speak English as well as reciting the Hebrew prayers perfectly!

Cheers,
Shafique
shafique
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Feb 20, 2007
could it be because, Islamic school for boys is closed
An Islamic school raided by anti-terror police last year has been closed
Bogus-Borgas
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Feb 20, 2007
No - the school has been around for many years and is just very good academically and accepts all faiths. Muslims have the advantage of the comfort that the food served there is legal for them - as Kosher is as good as Halaal for Muslims.

Cheers,
Shafique
shafique
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