This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34464137
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Cameron: Madrassas teaching hate to be investigated | Cameron: Madrassas teaching hate to be investigated |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Religious supplementary schools that teach children intolerance will be investigated and closed down, Prime Minister David Cameron has said. | Religious supplementary schools that teach children intolerance will be investigated and closed down, Prime Minister David Cameron has said. |
| In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, Mr Cameron promised to open these religious schools to inspection. | In his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, Mr Cameron promised to open these religious schools to inspection. |
| He said there was nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether that was in madrassas, Sunday schools or Jewish yeshivas. | He said there was nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether that was in madrassas, Sunday schools or Jewish yeshivas. |
| But children's minds must be broadened and not "filled with poison". | But children's minds must be broadened and not "filled with poison". |
| Mr Cameron told delegates: "Did you know, in our country, there are some children who spend several hours each day at a madrassa? | |
| "Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether it's at madrassas, Sunday schools or Jewish yeshivas. | "Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether it's at madrassas, Sunday schools or Jewish yeshivas. |
| "But in some madrassas, we've got children being taught that they shouldn't mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people. | "But in some madrassas, we've got children being taught that they shouldn't mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people. |
| "These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened, not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate. | "These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened, not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate. |
| "So I can announce this today: if an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected. | "So I can announce this today: if an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected. |
| "And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down." | "And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down." |
| Analysis by Branwen Jeffreys, BBC Education Editor | |
| It's only a year since plans for a voluntary code of conduct for madrassas were shelved by the Department for Education. | |
| Now, the government is going considerably further, with plans to consult then legislate to require supplementary religious schools to register and face what is being described as a "light touch" inspection regime. | |
| While any law would be broadly framed to include all religions, the thresholds of numbers of children and hours per week are likely to be set at a level that would exclude conventional Sunday schools as well as home education. | |
| This is about what is being described privately as the "hard edge" of some religious instruction that crosses firmly into the territory of inciting hatred or intolerance. | |
| There will be no tolerance of corporal punishment, but no prescription of what or how religious beliefs can be taught. | |
| Of course, the reality of trying to define that in law will prove complex and highly contentious. | |
| Ofsted may be less than keen to take on the additional role of trying to enforce sanctions, which could include plans to change through to closure. | |
| The prime minister said extremist religious supplementary schools were part of a wider problem of segregation within some communities, adding extreme madrassas "incubate these divisions". | The prime minister said extremist religious supplementary schools were part of a wider problem of segregation within some communities, adding extreme madrassas "incubate these divisions". |