By Nawab Khan
BRUSSELS, Sept 1 (KUNA) -- The first Islamic school on secondary level in Belgium will open in Brussels on Thursday which reflects a growing interest in Islamic schools by the Muslim community in the country. "There is a strong demand for Islamic education among the Muslim community in Belgium but our schools regretfully cannot accommodate all the pupils and this year we have about 200 pupils who are waiting to find a place," said Mohammad Allaf, secretary general of the six-member committee of Islamic education in Belgium.
In the new secondary school 144 boys and girls have registered but there is a shortage of 40 places, he told the Kuwait news agency, KUNA, in an interview.
Allaf, himself a teacher by profession, explained that the official education system in Belgium allows us as Muslims to establish schools with the same Belgian curriculum and under the supervision of Belgian authorities.
The salaries of the teachers in the Muslims schools are paid by the Belgian state. "But the philosophy of the education in our schools is our responsibility in order to teach Islamic religion and Arab culture to the pupils," Allaf said noting as an example that the pupils in the Muslim schools celebrate all the Islamic holidays unlike in the other Belgian schools.
Two hours of special classes in Arabic language are held after the normal school hours in the Islamic schools, but participation is voluntary. However, nearly all pupils attend these special classes, he said.
There are three primary Islamic schools in Brussels. The first called Al Ghazali was established in 1989, the second called the Pen (al Qalam) in 2011 and the third called Al Fadilah (Virtue) in 2013. The three schools have around 800 pupils.
"From this year we have been allowed to open an Islamic school on the secondary level which will open on Thursday 3 September and will be called Al Fadilah 2. This is the first time that a secondary Islamic school will open in Belgium," said Allaf who is a Belgian citizen of Moroccan origin.
The normal education in the Islamic schools is given in the French language.
Pupils in the three Islamic schools are mainly of Moroccan, Tunisian, and some Pakistani and Turkish origin.
However, due to financial constraints the three Islamic schools are not able to cover all their expenses.
Foreign countries or philanthropists can also donate for the promotion of Islamic education in Belgium but only with the prior approval of the Belgian government, stressed Allaf.
In general, Belgium's public primary and secondary schools offer the possibility of taking two hours of religion classes for the recognised religions such as Christianity, Islam or Judaism. Under this regulation Islamic religion classes have been organized in both Dutch- and French-speaking public education since 1975. The teachers of these religions lessons are paid by the Belgian state.
Belgium is the first European country to have granted Islam official recognition through a law of 19 July 1974.
There is no official registration of information about the ethnic and religious background about the population in Belgium, but estimates on the number of Muslims living in the country vary between 500,000 to 700,00 among a total population of 11 million. (end) nk.ibi