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Wednesday 12 Aug 2015 - 10:00 Makkah mean time-27-10-1436
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Sydney, (IINA) - New plans to keep a register of students who pray regularly in Sydney schools have drawn sharp criticism from Muslims and civil rights groups in the country, according to media reports.
It was criticized that the new plans threaten marginalizing the Muslim community as well as denying the student's “safe spaces” to interrogate their views in Australia.
Troubles started after a New South Wales public school has floated plans to keep a register of students who pray together during breaks.
On the school’s own initiative, a letter was sent to parents at Marsden High school, which cited a “federal government requirement” that a register of attendance be taken during prayer meetings and informal prayer groups.
Principals have also been issued with a memo outlining their obligations to report extremist behaviour.
The new plans sparked worries of Muslim who contacted solicitor and community advocate Lydia Shelly to express their concerns about the audit.
“Many parents are concerned that their children are being unfairly targeted based on their religion,” she said. “They are concerned with why the need for an audit has arisen, who will collect the information and who will have access to it.
"There is a concern that information will be provided to police or security agencies and that their children will be put under surveilance from these agencies,” she added.
“We can’t look away from the fact that this is real. I am not going to say it is a joke; there is a realness to it. But we need to be very sensible about the way we address it,” The Guardian Australia reported on Tuesday quoting Lakemba MP Jihad Dib.
“This audit, potentially, if it just looks to audit one particular group, then it also seeks to isolate that group and even further marginalize them, and that pushes kids further away.”
From his side, the President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties Stephen Blanks said the prospect of children having to register to practice their religion during school was “thoroughly alarming”.
“Of course the department should know what is going on in terms of religious activities within schools,” he said.
“But that does not extend to keeping a record of students who attend religious meetings, and must be done in a way that is sensitive to all people’s freedom to practice whatever religion they choose.”
SM/IINA
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