Many British Muslims believe that they are badly treated by state schools, a Home Office commissioned study has revealed.

The Muslim community is facing unprecedented hostility in the wake of the September 11 suicide attacks in the United States. But the University of Derby study shows that Muslims were complaining of growing discrimination long before September 11.

They told researchers they were unhappy about the treatment they received from the media and the education system. They claimed that schools - rather than universities or local education authorities - were the worst offenders.

Muslim parents and organisations said that some teachers had negative attitudes towards Islam. They tried to undermine Muslim children’s beliefs and practices that they regarded as “fundamentalist”, “silly”, or unfair to women. Some teachers had caused offence by arguing against arranged marriages or organising mixed outings without consulting pupils’ parents. The study, commissioned by the Home Office, found that 41 out of 49 Muslim organisations believed that teachers had treated their members unfairly. But an even higher proportion of Sikh groups (28 out of 31) and black-led Christian organisations (10 out of 11) voiced the same complaints.

The faith groups questioned by the researchers last year had grievances over admissions (Hindus and Muslims), the curriculum (Muslims, Sikhs and Zoroastrians), holidays (Jews and Muslims), timetabling (Jews and Muslims) and school dress (Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims). One Hindu educationist recalled Sikh children being embarrassed by teachers who derided them and their hair by saying things such as: “Why can’t they chop off that bun?” A parent reported that when his son said he was a Baha’i, the teacher replied that he had never heard of the religion and suggested that he was making it up. Baha’is and Zorastrians said they were overlooked as “minorities within minorities”. Members of new religious movements, such as Hare Krishna and the Church of Scientology, pointed out that school syllabuses made no mention of their beliefs.

The minority faith groups also argued that having permission to opt out of collective worship was not the same as having one’s religion recognised. However, even some Christians felt that their religion received less attention than other faiths. “Anyone with a strong identity as a faith, even within Christianity, has trouble,” one Christian told the researchers.

Buddhists felt that discrimination towards them was diminishing but Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons said that they were treated very badly in all walks of life.

The study’s authors interviewed more than 300 people and a wide range of organisations in Blackburn, Cardiff, Leicester and the London borough of Newham. Postal questionnaires were also distributed to more than 20 “faith” groups. The research - the first of its kind to be conducted in Britain - covered education, health, employment, the media and the criminal justice system. Asked for possible solutions to the problems they encountered in schools, the faith groups suggested: awareness-raising public education programmes, policy reviews to promote equal treatment, and improved teacher training. Interviewees also felt that teachers could do more to accommodate religious diversity, and in a less grudging way.

Professor Marie Parker-Jenkins, the study’s associate director, said:

“Given the multifaceted nature of unfair treatment on the basis of religion, it is unlikely that any single response would be adequate or effective. A range of strategies are needed.”

Professor Parker-Jenkins’s co-authors were Paul Weller, Alice Feldman and Kingsley Purdam. For more information see www.homeoffice.gov.ukrdswhatsnew1html; e-mail: publications.rds@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk amp; Derby University based www.multifaithnet.orgprojectsreligiousdiscrimreports.html