Sunday, 07 September 2008
10.10pm

Around Australia today there are about 30 Muslim schools. More are planned, but recent raucous opposition to a proposed new Muslim school in Sydney's south-west has again exposed deep-seated fears by some in our community, of Islam and what this faith stands for.

So, what goes on in an Islamic school? Who are the students and teachers? How do their curricula differ from other schools? How much focus is on religious instruction and how does Islam influence what is taught? In A Muslim Education, Compass visits two Muslim schools in Sydney to find out.

A Muslim Education is the second in a series of three Compass stories examining faith and values in our schools. It begins on August 31 with More Than The 3Rs (a Geraldine Doogue dinner discussion with 5 people who've grappled with one of the biggest decisions a parent will make: where to send their child to school?). The series of three finishes up on Sunday, September 14 with A Christian Education a story which examines how Christian values inform teaching across the curricula in four different schools.