Czech Education Ministry Approves Islamic Lecture Initiative for School children

A new project launched by the the Schoolchildren's Eyes group of the organization called "Muslims in the Czech Republic" has been approved by the Education Ministry. The group offers free seminars and lectures that acquaint pupils with Islam and the life and habits of Muslims. 

The lecturers want to explain to Czech children what a burka is and why some Muslim women wear it, and also what the Quran really says about jihad. 

The seminars, including games, provide information to Czech kids and dismiss certain prejudices and stereotypes linked to Islam. 

"School lessons do not pay sufficient attention to Islam. Pupils want to learn more about it," the project's co-author Shadi Shannah is quoted as saying. 

"The Muslim community in the Czech Republic is very small, but still manages to raise strong emotions with the broader Czech society. Muslim-related issues appear almost daily in TV news, newspapers and Internet debates. However, regular school lessons touch on them only marginally, as a result of which most pupils are unable to critically assess the media information,” the authors write. 

The Education Ministry has granted its approval to to the project. It did so after carrying out an expert assessment to determine that the workshops and lectures are objective. 

The project's sponsors include the U.S. Embassy in Prague and the Anna Lindh Foundation, an intergovernmental organization. 

The EU mission in Prague and the Prague Municipal Library are also cooperating in it. 

The project reacts to a survey its authors had made in 2013 and in which pupils showed interest in learning more about Islam. 

"Most pupils said they would like to learn more. They said they drew information about religion mainly from the media that are often very critical of Islam," one of the co-authors, Klára Popovová, said. 

The initiative has its detractors. An anti-Muslim organization called "We Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic" has raised protests against it. 

Klára Popovová said, “They sent me a few offending emails along with the demand that we should not promote Islam at schools. However, our project is no propaganda. Our only goal is to provoke a discussion and refute the media stereotypes.” 

She said the project initiators address schools directly to see whether they are interested in the project. 

Source: en.islamtoday.net (Apr. 8, 2014)