This sounds like a good idea to me. Any parent can teach their child more about their religion at home.
Students pray at Nile Garden School before the upcoming Eid al-Adha festival in Cairo, Nov. 11, 2010. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Will Egyptian schools strip religion from curriculum?
A call made by Nadia Henry, deputy head of the Free Egyptians Party’s parliamentary bloc, to replace the religion course — which is mandatory for students in public schools — with an alternate course on “values” has raised considerable debate within the parliament, accompanied by an attack launched by the Salafist Nour Party and Al-Azhar.
Summary⎙ Print Egyptian parliamentarian Nadia Henry suggests replacing separate Muslim and Christian religious classes in public schools with one course on values that would combine teachings from both the Quran and the Bible.
Author George MikhailPosted April 12, 2016
TranslatorCynthia Milan
Egyptian schools teach religion from elementary school through high school, and Christian students are separated from their fellow Muslims during religion courses. However, despite the importance of this course in Egyptian education, the students’ grades in religion are not included in their final grades because religion exams taken by Christians differ from those taken by Muslims, and this way everyone can be graded equally. Meanwhile, the Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar contribute to developing the curricula for the religion courses for both Christian and Muslim students.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Henry emphasized that she did not call for eliminating the religion course, but rather wanted to replace it with a course on values that would combine verses from both the Quran and the Bible that underline values and ideals. “The values course should be taught by educators who have knowledge in the science of counseling and psychology, to plant the idea of citizenship in students’ hearts and teach them how to love one another,” she said.
Read more:
Will Egyptian schools strip religion from curriculum? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
Students pray at Nile Garden School before the upcoming Eid al-Adha festival in Cairo, Nov. 11, 2010. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Will Egyptian schools strip religion from curriculum?
A call made by Nadia Henry, deputy head of the Free Egyptians Party’s parliamentary bloc, to replace the religion course — which is mandatory for students in public schools — with an alternate course on “values” has raised considerable debate within the parliament, accompanied by an attack launched by the Salafist Nour Party and Al-Azhar.
Summary⎙ Print Egyptian parliamentarian Nadia Henry suggests replacing separate Muslim and Christian religious classes in public schools with one course on values that would combine teachings from both the Quran and the Bible.
Author George MikhailPosted April 12, 2016
TranslatorCynthia Milan
Egyptian schools teach religion from elementary school through high school, and Christian students are separated from their fellow Muslims during religion courses. However, despite the importance of this course in Egyptian education, the students’ grades in religion are not included in their final grades because religion exams taken by Christians differ from those taken by Muslims, and this way everyone can be graded equally. Meanwhile, the Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar contribute to developing the curricula for the religion courses for both Christian and Muslim students.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Henry emphasized that she did not call for eliminating the religion course, but rather wanted to replace it with a course on values that would combine verses from both the Quran and the Bible that underline values and ideals. “The values course should be taught by educators who have knowledge in the science of counseling and psychology, to plant the idea of citizenship in students’ hearts and teach them how to love one another,” she said.
Read more:
Will Egyptian schools strip religion from curriculum? - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
