Wednesday June 24 2009
From the outside it looks like any other Irish national school. There are words in Irish posted on the classroom walls, paintings by children decorate the assembly hall and some of the school facilities are in prefabs.
But in other ways this is no ordinary national school. All the pupils, whether Irish-born or from abroad, are children of Islamic parents.
They learn Arabic as well as English and Irish.
They receive Islamic instruction, and the older pupils attend prayers every day in the neighbouring mosque.
A large number of the girls in the co-ed school wear headscarves.
On Monday, when I visited the
Their ceremony included Islamic songs and prayers, the Irish rugby anthem 'Ireland's Call' and a sketch about travelling on the 46A bus.
There was a cheerful, celebratory atmosphere as the children looked forward to the summer.
The Muslim National School in Clonskeagh has moved swiftly to defend its reputation after another Islamic School on the northside of Dublin was severely criticised in a Government report.
The North Dublin Muslim School in Cabra was slated last week by the Department of Education in an inspection report. The Cabra school was criticised on a raft of issues, including poor teaching standards, lax accounting procedures and inadequate child protection policies.
In the wake of the controversy over the Cabra school, there have also been criticisms of the Clonskeagh school from some quarters.
A former parent of pupils at the school appeared on Joe Duffy's Liveline on RTE to complain about academic standards at the school, and certain other management practices.
But this week, the principal of the Clonskeagh school, Colm McGlade, was keen to outline how his pupils are being well served with a high standard of teaching and good facilities.
He was anxious to open the doors of the school to show that it is functioning properly.
While the Cabra Muslim school has been damned by a whole school evaluation by the department, the Clonskeagh school received a much more positive evaluation by inspectors.
The 2006 evaluation highlighted perceived strengths in the school. These included:
"Professionalism of the principal, teacher and school staff in their work and their commitment to the ongoing development of the school.''
"Responsiveness and enthusiasm of the pupils."
"The very good work taking place in many areas of the curriculum ... and providing for pupils with a wide range of abilities and particular language needs.''
On the other hand, the 2006 report highlighted "serious difficulties in the functioning of the board of management'' and the need for extra language support.
Colm McGlade says these issues have been addressed since the inspection was carried out.
Although all the pupils come from Islamic backgrounds, the school is one of the most diverse in the country when it comes to nationality. There are pupils from 20 different countries in the school.
Colm McGlade says the language issue is a major challenge for the school.
"We have pupils coming to us who do not speak English at all. They could be involved with four languages. For example, a pupil from Pakistan might have spoken Urdu in his country.
"At school he or she will be learning English, Irish and Arabic. We teach Arabic here, because it is the language of the Koran.
"We now have six language support teachers in the school.''
The school teaches the Irish primary school curriculum, but there are certain restrictions.
Music teaching is limited, because wind and stringed instruments are not allowed in the school in order to comply with Islamic teaching.
"To say that we do not do music is completely untrue,'' says Colm McGlade. "We have had a choir that has performed for the President.''
In PE, dance is not allowed, again as a result of Muslim strictures.
However, Colm McGlade is proud of the school's record in sports, pointing to successes in such activities as athletics and Olympic Handball.
Although Islamic and Arabic instruction is given in the school by part-time teachers, the principal and and the core teaching staff are non-Islamic.
"I taught at a Catholic school for 19 years before I came here. I see this as a normal national school, like any other.''
While some critics are bound to have reservations about pupils in an Irish national school receiving Islamic instruction, there are also critics from within the Islamic community who believe the school is not hardline enough.
"There are may different strands in Islam,'' says Mohamed Jimani, chairman of the school's board of governors. "That can cause certain tensions, because there are people from different cultures who might want a different emphasis.''
With only two Muslim schools in the country, and one of them under a cloud, there is now a huge demand for places at the school. Every year there are 160 children competing for 35 places.
"I think the high number of pupils on the waiting lists shows the quality of education we are providing,'' says Colm McGlade.
"If we were not providing a decent standard of education parents would not be sending their children here.''
- Kim Bielenberg
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