In my school there is a room downstairs, which I have alway thought to be a store-room, that is actually meant for Friday prayer for the Muslim kids, meaning pretty much all of them. They refer to this space as the “Qur’an teaching-room”, which is definitely not its purpose. Since it is used during school-time, and time has been set aside (and teaching schedules re-organised) for prayer time, the idea that it could be used as an instructional aid annoys me.

One of the children has reportedly claimed he was (probably due to bad behaviour) recently pushed to the floor by an adult – not a teacher, I hasten to add.

If this is true, and there are witnesses who have come forward to back up the claim, it is yet another instance of violence towards children that the Muslim community seem to condone as much as condemn. I am not saying that non-Muslims are without blame in this matter, but the general attitude to such events from other Muslims in the school is alarmingly blasé.

I should very much like to experince life in a Swedish school, to see if the attitude is as saddening as it is in mine.