Teachers' organization seeks to implement Islamic education.
For decades, there's been a discourse about incorporating Islamic religious education into German schools. There's a refrain for it, too. The head of the German Teachers' Association shares this sentiment and believes many Muslim moms and pops would appreciate their children learning Islam from state-sponsored teachers instead of those provided by Turkey or Iran.
He stresses the necessity for formal state training of Islamic educators in each German state. "We must set up Islamic instruction under government supervision," says Stefan Düll in an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.
Currently, compulsory ethics lessons fall short of Muslim parents' expectations. "Instead, they keep asking for their kids to learn Islam under government supervision, ideally at school. Most often, they have just cause to question the quality of extracurricular activities and the values imparted there," he says.
With increasing numbers of Muslim students - estimated to be about 1.6 million across Germany, about 15% of the nation's total pupils - parents want their children to study Islam in a modern and enlightened way, with proper assistance but without countries like Turkey or Iran exerting control. So, Düll requests the formation of classes endorsed by the government in compliance with the Basic Law.
Number of Muslim Students in Germany
At present, around 1.6 million schoolkids in Germany are Muslim, constituting approximately 15% of the student population, and that number keeps growing. Some federal states have already heeded the call and have been offering Islamic studies as part of experimental projects for several years. These classes provide instruction in German, unlike mosques, and the teachers have undergone state pedagogical training. They're geared towards promoting integration.
Yet, the real hitch is that there's a dearth of teachers with special qualifications in Islamic education. Plus, Islam isn't a one-size-fits-all subject; it has varied schools of thought and representations in Germany. But here's a kicker - there's no pan-German Islamic association that can speak on behalf of all Muslims. There's a catch, though. These variances mean there's no single reference point to develop religious content.
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The German Teachers' Association leader believes that many Muslim parents would prefer their children to learn Islam from state-appointed teachers within schools, instead of relying on instruction from Turkey or Iran. In light of the growing number of Muslim students in Germany, Stefan Düll advocates for the establishment of government-regulated Islamic classes to promote integration and meet the educational needs of the community.
Source: www.ntv.de
