German schools ready for Islamic course

In a meeting with more than one hundred experts in the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in the city of Nuremberg, German officials and representatives of Muslim communities tried to solve legal problems hindering the initiative, Press TV correspondent Wolfgang Karg reported on Tuesday.

“We need Islamic education in German schools and we need it now, not just the pilot projects,” the German minister said.

Almost all German states have introduced such pilot projects for Muslim students, but only one in 20 Muslim students is able to attend such classes.

Neither their families nor their communities always provide young Muslims in Germany with the moral and practical counseling they need, our correspondent says.

The consequences are often conflicts, alienation from religion and identity crises. This is why the government supports Islamic education in schools for the benefit of the children, despite the obstacles, he adds.

As a temporary solution, the government is now calling upon the local authorities to accept councils with Muslim members as partners in the development of the curriculum for Islamic courses.

“We cannot wait until the religious associations are accepted as such by the federal states," de Maiziere added.

The minister argued that lawmakers should stop waiting for Muslim communities to become like Christian churches and instead deal with them as diverse and voluntary entities.

There seems to be a new willingness among lawmakers and Muslim groups in Germany to find pragmatic solutions so that Islamic education can be introduced nationwide.

The deadlocked German Islam Conference will meet again at the end of March. Muslim groups in Germany hope that a breakthrough can be reached this time.