Established 1981 London School of Islamics An Educational Trust 63 Margery Park Road London E7 9LD Email: info@londonschoolofislamics.org.uk www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk Tel/Fax: 0208 555 2733 / 07817 112 British Pakistani Youths Professor Yunus Samad of Bradford University delivered a lecture at Pakistan High Commission on the issues of the Pakistani youth. He criticised the Muslim community, Muslim parents, Masajid and Imams for all the problems of the Muslim youths. In my view British education system and native teachers are responsible, who have no respect for Islamic values, languages and Muslim community. British education is the home of institutional racism. The schools and the teaching profession never tried to meet the needs and demands of Pakistani or Muslim children. They need a different approach in education. The native teachers do not have a clue of their mother tongues and values. There is a negative co-relation between school and home. The children come to schools with different values which have no place in English schools. They are victim of bullying through out their school life. The result is that they suffer from Identity Crises, making them mis-fit not only for the Muslim community but also for the host society. Majority of them leave schools with low grades or without any qualification. They suffer from mental, emotional and personality problems due to the fact that they have been mis-educated and de-educated by a system which does not understand them. In my view British education is responsible for all the problems of Pakistani youths, and not the parents, Masajid or Imams. Pakistani bilingual children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. They need to learn Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and to go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. They need to learn Arabic to recite and understand the Holly Quran. They need to learn Urdu language to study and enjoy the beauty of Urdu literature and poetry and to keep in touch with their cultural roots. Most of Islamic literature and poetry is in Urdu and without learning Urdu they are unable to understand the spirit of Islam. Iftikhar Ahmad