School Faces Complaints of Teaching "Fundamentalism," Giving Girls "Inferior" Education

May 30, 2004

Source: The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/05/30/nsaud30.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/05/30/ixnewstop.html

On May 30, 2004 The Telegraph reported, "A London school funded by the Saudi Arabian government is facing complaints from parents that it is teaching British children 'fundamentalist' Islam while giving girls an inferior education. The King Fahd Academy in Acton, west London, named after the current Saudi ruler, devotes up to 50 per cent of lessons to religious education and teaches almost all classes in Arabic, with boys and girls following different curricula. Former teachers and parents have come forward to criticise the academy's religious teachings for instilling 'hostility to the outsider.' They also claim that there is discrimination against female pupils. The school was opened 19 years ago for the offspring of Saudi diplomats in London. Since then, many children of British Muslims have joined the school. In 2002, only 37 per cent of the 738 pupils were of Saudi origin."