Demand For A Muslim School In Bristol

There is strong demand among Muslim parents in Bristol for an Islamic secondary school, according to research conducted by MORI Social Research Institute on behalf of Bristol LEA.

Nine in ten Muslim parents surveyed agreed with the model of an Islamic secondary school set up within the state system (92%). Such a school would teach the National Curriculum and other faiths, incorporate regular prayer as part of the school day, be run by representatives from the Muslim community in partnership with the City Council, and be open to non-Muslim pupils and teachers. Parents were keen to use the school as well as support it, with over half saying they would be certain to send their children to the school if it were set up (55%), and another two fifths saying they would be likely to do so (40%).

Findings from the survey suggest that Muslim parents may be no more dissatisfied with Bristol's schools than other parents in the city. However, satisfaction among Muslim parents is affected by the extent to which they feel local schools meet the needs of Muslim pupils, and just under half of parents feel Bristol schools do not meet these needs very much or at all (45%). While measures to accommodate Muslim diet, dress code and holy days are regarded fairly positively, lack of Islamic teaching and time and space for daily prayer are seen as the most crucial issues to be addressed. It is also felt that an Islamic school would help combat poor discipline and educational underachievement.

A campaign to set up a Muslim school has been active in Bristol since 1998. A key objective of the study was to determine whether the desire for a Muslim secondary school was shared in the wider Muslim community, and not just among campaign activists. For this reason, the survey only captured the views of Muslim parents. The views of parents of other religious backgrounds may, of course, be different.

• The full report from this study, produced by MORI, is available on the Bristol LEA website: www.bristol-lea.org.uk/policies/pdf/Final_report.pdf - pdf document, 1.33MB

Technical details

MORI interviewed a total of 289 Muslim parents of primary and/or secondary school children living in the 6 Bristol wards with the highest penetration of Muslim residents. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes between 19 January and 15 February 2004.

Areas within each ward with a higher proportion of Muslim households were selected as the target areas for interviewing, and respondents were spread between wards in proportion to the penetration of Muslim households in each ward. Minimum quotas were set for gender of parent and school age of child (primary or secondary) to ensure a spread of respondents and views.

The profile of respondents achieved is shown in the full report of the findings. Due to limited knowledge about the profile of Bristol's Muslim population, it has not been possible to compare this with the profile of Bristol Muslims as a whole. However, results indicate that the survey was successful in capturing the views of a range of age, ethnic and social class groups.

In December 2003, four focus groups were conducted with Muslim parents of children in school years 6-11 attending Bristol state schools. These discussions explored key issues in depth, and informed the design of the questionnaire for the quantitative survey in 2004.