Muslim leaders await approval for Islamic primary school plan in Granada

Plans to open the first Islamic primary school in Spain are awaiting approval in Granada. The proposal would provide the province’s sizable Muslim population with the opportunity to give their children an Islamic education in Spain, where schools are secular by law, though religious education material focuses almost entirely on Catholicism. “We are not trying to oppose the current system. We want to provide an alternative that defends fundamental values that are being lost in modern society. We are not trying to force segregation.” said Malik Ruiz, the leader of the Islamic Community of Spain – the group behind the proposal.

If approved, Ruiz added that he hopes the school’s construction would begin later this year, with its opening set for a tentative October 2010 If the proposal received approval from both Granada councilors and officials from the Junda de Andalusia regional government, the school will be both publicly and privately funded, admit non-Muslim children, while the curriculum will follow that of other public schools across Spain.

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