First free Muslim boys school announced (From Asian Image)

First free Muslim boys school announced

4:47pm Friday 14th January 2011 in Education

The Department for Education (DfE) is to approve the establishment of Tauheedul’s Free School in Blackburn for boys aged 11 to 18.

The DfE’s decision means that the Tauheedul Free School proposal can proceed in its planning and a detailed business case will now be developed for a school with the same philosophy of excellence as the existing girls’ school.

Free Schools are all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to parental demand.

It is hoped that the opening of such a school will help to arrest the current migration of many boys from the state sector to independent schools. Following the application being submitted there have already been many parents registering interest for their sons at the proposed school.

Welcoming the news of Blackburn’s first Free School, Kam Kothia, Chairman of Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School, said: “This really is tremendous news for everyone in the community. For all who want the best for Blackburn boys – Muslim and non-Muslim – this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world class boys’ school that will aim to achieve the same standards and exceed the successes of the existing girls’ school.”

Ruksana Adam, one of the parents who has already registered interest for a place at the school for her son, said: I am really excited by this news. All parents naturally want what is best for their children and when we were looking for a school for our son to attend and heard about the possibility of a Tauheedul Boys’ School, we put his name down straight away. Given their track record with the girls’ school and the experience they have with supporting other schools worldwide, we thought it would be the best place for him to learn and develop. We really hope we are successful as we know that demand for places will be high.”

The new school will be located on the current girls’ school site at Bicknell Street, Blackburn, as the girls’ school is due to move to its new Beardwood site as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Building on the years of success with the girls’ school, the Free School will work to produce a generation of global citizens and future leaders who value their faith, whatever that might be, who will benefit from one or more of the three specialisms the school will offer: Entrepreneurship, Sports and the exploration in practice of the Big Society concept.

Hamid Patel, Principal and Chief Executive of Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School, said: We have been very clear in our application that we intend the Free School to be part of the family of local authority schools and are committed to collaborative, partnership working. During the business planning stage, we will work closely with the local authority and other schools to ensure that we complement the rest of the state schools in the borough.

“We strongly believe that we can work together to bring choice, diversity and offer greater opportunity for local families, places will be available for both Muslim and non-Muslim faith boys and will offer a real mix of cultural diversity. This will in no way affect the viability of other local schools and we will work alongside them to continue to improve life chances for all Blackburn pupils.”

It is hoped the school will open its doors in 2012, a launch timed to coincide with the London Olympics so that the Free School will symbolise the world class excellence that the young people there will compete to achieve.