Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan
ISLAM exhorts the value of education and this focus on learning has helped Muslims to become torchbearers of knowledge and innovation at a time when the West was submerged in the dark.
Now the situation has been reversed, with Muslims lagging in education and progress. In Canada there are signs, however, that Muslims are becoming more devoted to quality education. Three Muslim schools in Ontario have done Canadian Muslims proud. These schools follow the regular Ontario curriculum but add Qur’an, Islam and Arabic to foster their religious values.
According to the Fraser Institute, a public policy think-tank that assesses the province’s 2,714 elementary schools and also high schools annually, the Abraar School this year was Ottawa’s top elementary school for reading, writing and math scores with 9.4 marks out of 10. It tied for 41st place in the province.
It did so, moreover, without state funding and with teachers and staff being paid far less than the provincial norm. While most private schools charge a fees of $8,000 to $15,000 annually, Abraar school charges less than $4,000 to ensure students are not excluded for financial reasons. The data came from tests conducted under the Ontario government’s Education Quality and Accountability Office.
It’s a tribute to what one can achieve through dedication, hard work and innovation in a welcoming, democratic society.
School Principal Dr. Mohammed Saleem said the dedication of teachers and support of the Muslim Association of Canada produced the achievement. MAC, which owns the school, is a national non-profit organization that seeks to further Muslims’ educational and spiritual development within Canada’s social fabric and culture. It believes in serving every community regardless of faith or background. MAC also runs Al Furqan at Abraar school where 280 students learn the Holy Qur’an and Islam.
MAC also owns the Olive Grove School in Mississauga and it did even better — chosen the top school in that city, nabbing 16th place in the province and 9.9 marks out of 10. Abdullatif Bakbak, the principal, asserted that the school seeks to provide education that exceeds the expectations of the provincial curriculum and encourages character building and healthy living. The school was started in 2006 and now has 600 students.
Both schools have waiting lists. Abraar school started 11 years ago and has 348 students and seeks to expand to Grades 9 and 10 next year. It also runs a day care center for 24 students. Abraar School has always enjoyed an excellent reputation. That was marred in 2005 when an uproar erupted over an essay written by a student of Palestinian origin, whose family had been uprooted from their homes that were derogatory of Jews. Ontario’s then education minister Gerard Kennedy ordered an investigation because Canadian laws prohibit promotion of hate against any group.
Then school Principal Dr. Aisha Sherazi took immediate action defusing the crisis. Rabbi Reuven Bulka praised her and said he was deeply moved when he learned that Dr. Sherazi worked without remuneration as a community service. Dr. Saleem, who joined as principal in 2012, brought a new perspective. He has lived in various states in the US, served as principal of an Islamic school in Oklahoma, did his PhD from Wisconsin and is on the executive committee of the Council of Islamic Schools in the US.
Another Islamic school, however, did even better. The Islamic Foundation of Scarborough Islamic School scored 10 our 10 and shared first position with 14 other schools in Ontario. School Principal Yahya Qureshi credited teachers and parents for their devotion that led to the pupils excelling in “all areas of growth and development.”
The school was started 17 years ago and is regularly ranked among the top 10 schools in Ontario. It has 600 students from kindergarten to Grade 10. For the past four years the school has achieved a 100 percent success rate on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test for Grade 10. Students in other grades have also done well. One Grade 3 student secured second place nationally by getting a score of 24 out of 25 in mathematics. Two students were included in the top 25 leadership candidates in the world by the Bentley College (Boston) international competition.
“Our alumni are well equipped to excel in any academic or professional arena that they wish to pursue,” says the principal. “Our emphasis is on excellence in scholarship as well as moral and spiritual development.”
Not all Islamic or private schools are this successful. Most Canadians prefer public schools, which are free till high school and also enable students to mingle with Canadians of diverse backgrounds from an early age.
But some Christians, Jews, Muslims and others have established private schools to provide higher quality of education, safeguard cultural values and raise secure, balanced children who, on graduation, blend in better with fellow Canadians. In several schools this is working out nicely.
— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge
