German state wants to widen scope of Islamic teaching

Hani Daniel

The North Rhine-Westphalia state works to widen the scope of Islamic teaching by increasing cooperation with Islamic NGOs.

Minister of Education Yvonne Gebauer said she would form a panel of six Islamic NGOs. The panel, she said, would liaise between the different agencies offering educational services to the members of the Islamic community in the state.

She added that the panel would be copied in the case of the education of other religious groups, including Catholics and Protestants.

The North Rhine-Westphalia is known to be economically powerful. The minister-president of the state, Armin Laschet, is expected to run for the position of German chancellor and succeed incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel.

Around 22,000 students receive Islamic education in 260 schools in the North Rhine-Westphalia state. Over 300 teachers teach in these schools.

Islamic teaching is traditionally done by the German state. However, the same teaching would be offered by teachers trained in Germany for the job.

Muslim students would also be given teaching about the other religions. There is belief in Germany that this would contribute to reducing extremism.

Minister Gebauer believes that the adherents of the different religions have to be more open to each other.

She said she is cooperation with Islamic NGOs with the aim of reaching the best results in this regard.

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs, widely known as DITIB, is the largest Islamic organization in Germany. Nevertheless, Germany suspended cooperation with the union a few years ago because of its links with Ankara.