A CHRISTIAN school in Werribee, Victoria, has been defending its refusal to offer a training placement to a Muslim teaching student on the grounds of her religion.
Victoria University student Rachida Dahlal has reportedly lodged a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission against Heathdale Christian College, accusing it of discrimination and prejudice.
But, according to The Age, the faith-based private school is standing by its decision, saying it would have been “inappropriate” to offer the student a placement because of the school’s Christian ethos.
Principal Reynald Tibben said Dahlal – who wears a head scarf and is a devout Muslim – may have found it difficult to work at a school where the teachers’ morning staff briefing includes prayer devotion and Bible reading.
A teacher in a headscarf
The way we practise our education is not just nominal, it’s actually what parents want for their kids, and it would have been confusing for the kids. It’s not that we have anything against her or her beliefs, we just felt it was an inappropriate placement.
Tibben added:
There’s obviously a difference between being a Muslim and a Christian – so it was a religious issue from that perspective – but it was as much about supporting her as it was the college.
In another report, Tibben is reported as saying:
As a faith-based school it expects its teachers, including student ones, to support its Christian perspective.
It was not in her interest to expect her to operate in a culture that was different to her own religious standards. To expect her to support the Christian ethos and practice of the college would have been unreasonable, just as it would be for me to operate as a teacher in a Muslim school.
The 35-year-old mother of two had chosen Heathdale because it was the closest school to her home and her sons’ childcare center, and one of few offering her specialty subjects of mathematics and French.
I am Muslim, wear a head scarf, and respect all fellow humans regardless of their beliefs, race, or cultural background.
Tibben said his school, which takes about 12 university students for training each year, offered to support Dahlal in finding another school and questioned why Victoria University hadn’t given “a little more thought” in guiding her into a school-based placement.
The university’s acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor John McCallum, said Mrs Dahlal had been counselled about Heathdale’s policy of taking those whose values aligned to its own, adding:
In many instances Muslim students have been successfully placed in Christian schools.
Dahlal alleged that she was not told of any policy, only that she would not be able to speak about religion while on placement.
NOTE: The photo used to illustrate this report is of Cindy Michelle Hastings, a Canadian teacher at a Muslim school in London, Ontario. Hastings does not adhere to any particular religion, and only wears the jilbab when on teaching duty. See full report here.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 25th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Ah well, there we go. Another example of oecumenicalism and extending the hand of welcome and friendship to other believers. Could have been worse. Suppose she had been an atheist? Where would they have placed her then? Left to wander the oceans of religious, educational prejudice like The Flying Dutchman.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
How does one teach math or French from a “Christian Perspective”? Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Buffy.
Maths: 1+1+1=1
French: Jesus was nailed to a croissant
March 26th, 2009 at 12:18 am
remigius,
Excellent!!
March 26th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Off topic for the paranoid among us:
Do you know that the new version of Skype (4) doesn’t allow you to delete your call history any more. Nor is there a file to zap, which probably means that the history is probably kept by Skype, which is probably a privacy ‘thing’. ‘Why the change?’ I cry.
Barry, I know it’s not a religion thing, but it might be of interest to our friends.
If you haven’t upgraded from version 3 yet, you might want to think about it first.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:48 am
The western “values” suggest equality and freedom for all, that means society must allow religious freedom. The Christians and Jews have Church/ Jewish schools as well as kosher meat, yet when Muslims simply ask for the very same treatment,the Islamphobic secular right wing jump up and down screaming that somehow western values have been attacked.
The Jews throughout the western world have their own religious courts. Christians have been enjoying the right to be married in Church. Muslims should have the same right to get married in Masajid as well as they need Sharia Courts, dealing in marriage, civil matters and divorce.
It is easy to say” Go back to where you came from”,but do not forget that British Muslims are actually born and educated here. They are in the unenviable position of trying to combine two diffent worlds. That is no easy.
Multiculturalism is not about separation, ghettoisation or balkanisation. It is, instead, a recognition of both diversity and the need for common ground, mutual respect,and cultural engagement.
Muslims all over the world never opposed English as a language what they did was opposition of the Western culture and their system of education. In Pakistan, the medium of instruction is Urdu and English and the official language is both English and Urdu. Pakistan is going to send English teachers to Korea for the teaching of English language.
Muslim parents would like their children to be well versed in standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity.
Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because state schools with monolingual teachers are not capable of teaching English to bilingual children.At the same time, they need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.
I am concerned with the education of the Muslim children. It is nothing to do with integration or segregation. Those state as well as Church schools where Muslim children are in majority, in my opinion, may be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models.
Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
March 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
“I am Muslim, wear a head scarf, and respect all fellow humans regardless of their beliefs, race, or cultural background.”
A bit of a pity that, according to her own holy book, God doesn’t have the same standards!
March 26th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
This is all very mild stuff. Imagine what would happen if the marjority of people in Western countries were to suddenly revert to the rank fanaticism of, say, the 17th century. Kerblooey, basically. We secularists should be proud to keep the unfaith – we’re saving lives.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Iftikhar,
“Multiculturalism is not about separation, ghettoisation or balkanisation. It is, instead, a recognition of both diversity and the need for common ground, mutual respect,and cultural engagement.”
“There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.”
Read back what you have written. You talk about multiculturalism and mutual respect but you refuse to have non muslims in your ‘schools’, if you can actually call them schools.
Ever since muslims arrived in this country, (and the same can be said for any country they invade) they have chosen areas to occupy, and then they have set about ousting the indigenous population and setting up their own little ghetto, quite deliberately isolating themselves from the rest of the population. It is outrageous for you to raise the issue of “ghettoisation”, as you put it, as if this was our fault when this is clearly what muslims want because you think you are better than everyone else and you are not supposed to be, and believe you are above, living amongst us.
I think you will find that the readers and contributors to this site are against all religions and any religious education. You should go and bleat at xtians or jews on their own sites if you have a problem with them getting things which you think you are not. As far as I’m concerned, none of you deserve anything. You should keep your crazy beliefs to your homes and your places of worship. None of it should be allowed to interfere with public life.
As far as sharia law is concerned, you should be ashamed of yourself for proposing such a barbaric and sexist system. We already have laws in this country. If they don’t suit you, go and live in some backward thinking intellectual desert where islam is busy oppressing people already.
“Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because state schools with monolingual teachers are not capable of teaching English to bilingual children.”
The majority of muslim children leave schools with low grades because they are taught to believe utter garbage and reject proper subjects in favour of islamic studies. They are taught to believe that the western way is all wrong, that they are better than us and that they should have nothing to do with us other than forcibly converting us to go back to living in the 7th century with them.
If some of your children take on western values your communities will be much better for it. But if people like you have your way, there will be more separation, more extremism and more violence in the world. But then, that’s what islam is all about anyway isn’t it.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Robert Stovold,
Well said!
March 26th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I totally agree with Godless, but would go even further.
I have read the articles you have posted on the web, such as this one on honour killing…
http://www.londonschoolofislam.....1&
Quite frankly I am appalled that someone living in this country has such a backward, barbaric mentality as you. Even posters to your own site are upset by your bile.
It is snivelling little shits like you that give Islam the reputation it deserves.
You may want to live in a 7th century cesspit but at least give your children, and ours, a chance at happiness.
Take a look at Islam for what it actually is – a hateful oppressive cult founded upon the demented ramblings of an illiterate, psychotic, sex-obsessed paedophile on a flying horse.
And if you don’t like Britain you are very welcome to fuck off and ruin somewhere else.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:40 am
THIS IS A WELL THOUGHT OUT STUNT.
Firstly, this Rachida Dahlal is NOT Australian, she is a Muslim Immigrant an example of what is wrong with Australia today.
Secondly, she did this on purpose so she could get to HREOC to get a BIG $$$ BUCKS pay out.
Everyone knows that if you attend or want to teach at a Catholic School you need to be Catholic.
Everyone knows that if you attend or want to teach at a Muslim School you need to be Muslim.
Everyone knows that if you attend or want to teach at a Jewish School you need to be Jewish.
Everyone knows that if you attend or want to teach at a Public School you DON’T need to be anything.
If I have a Muslim teacher teaching my Catholic children at a Catholic school, I would pull them out, as it is not what I am paying fees for, or selecting the correct school expecting standards, including 100% catholic faith and environment.
She did it on purpose, as a test case…. so obvious.
SHE AND HER SUPPORTERS ARE EVIL.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:34 am
A round of applause for remigius please!
BTW remmy,
I had a look through some of the replies on that link that you posted and thought everyone might get a chuckle at this little excerpt from one by a muslim mum. Just to explain to everyone else, the original post by Iftikhar was about honour killings which he thought would best be dealt with by having more muslims schools. (Really?!)
This muslim woman wrote:
“I would personally love to send my children to an Islamic school especially when they are in secondary school but it costs a bomb!”
We all suspected as much eh?!!
Priceless!!!