Denmark: Supervisors to visit Muslim private schools

Muslim private schools can again expect visits from government supervisors.

The integration and education ministries plan a special supervision tour at 25 school, in order to ascertain that the schools aren't becoming a nursery for terrorists.

Education minister Bertel Haarder says that now, with Islamic terror, there's naturally particular reason to pay attention to the school, as they know what's going on in schools in Pakistan, where things have been allowed to develop.

The supervision will show if the schools are preparing their student to live in a society with freedom and popular rule.  Should that not be the case, it will lead to changes in the private school laws, according to the plans, which have been received with criticism.

Ebbe Lilliendal Jørgensen, head of the Danish private schools association, says that if the government is again giving special attention to Muslim schools, this is being done without their backing.  He is dissatisfied that a few problems at several Muslim private schools might have great consequences for the rest of the private schools.

He says that it's very unfortunate that the government will put all schools in one bag, and that it's wrong to make laws for all the country's 500 private schools based on 25 who were particularly chosen out.

The education minister, however, says that the Danish Private School Association should stop seeing supervision as an attack.

Bertel Haarder asks everybody not to be so touch in this debate.  Radicalization is a very serious issue, and it must be seen if something like this is going on in the schools.

The Muslim private schools had been an object of supervision in the past, but according to the Danish Private School Association, it had never been documented that any had omitted to teach their students freedom and popular rule.

Source: Kristeligt Dagblad (Danish)

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