Islamic school renews plea for help

7:00am Thursday 17th May 2007

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MUSLIM schoolgirls in Oxford could be sent to Pakistan or will not get an education at all if the county's only Islamic school is forced to close.

Fozia Tenvir, headteacher at the Iqra School, in Littlemore, warned some girls will just 'disappear' if the school, which offers same-sex faith education to more than 100 girls aged 11 to 15, cannot continue.

The Lawn Upton building, which is owned by the Diocese of Oxford and Oxfordshire County Council, where the school is based, is set to go on the market at the end of the month with a £2.5m to £3m price tag, which the school cannot afford.

Mrs Tenvir said: "We are in a grave situation. The school has developed to such an extent now that we cannot just close our books and go home - there are girls' futures at stake, especially our present year 10 class who are in the middle of their course.

"This venture was started to safeguard the interests of girls who needed this kind of education and this is why we opened, to educate Muslim girls and get them into higher education.

"I have absolute nightmares about what's going to happen to them. A few might go to Manchester or Bedford to Islamic boarding schools and will have to leave their families, but some will be shipped back to Pakistan.

"There are also a few who will disappear from the registers beneath the surface, who will be in homes in this country but will not be allowed to go to any other secondary schools. Only a few will move back into the state system."

So far the school has raised about £500,000 and chairman of trustees Dr Hojjat Ramzy was confident £1m could be pledged.

He asked for more time to come to some kind of agreement with the interested parties.

Dr Ramzy said: "We would like to make an appeal to the diocese and also to Christian people in all of Oxfordshire to help us and give us more time and extend the lease."

Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell said: "We have a share in the proceeds of that site with the church. We have committed that money to our development scheme for schools as a whole in Oxfordshire, so we cannot allow the continued use of that site forever.

"We are keen to help the Iqra community to meet their educational needs, which is a faith-based need. We have had a meeting exploring a number of options, one of which is to see if the school in the longer term could come into the state sector."

Mr Mitchell said he had written to schools minister, and former Oxford city councillor Lord Adonis about the issue.