Muslim faith schools have been placed at the top of the British governments ranking of secondary school performance, taking the top three positions and also securing a total of four in the top ten.
The top three positions in a ranking of every British school were taken by schools that say they are run according to Islamic values.
At the top of the list, was Tauheedul Islam Girl’s high school which is based in the northern English town of Blackburn. In second place was Eden Boy’s school in Birmingham and finally, it was Eden Girl’s school in Coventry.
All three of the schools say they are run according to British and Islamic values.
The list collated every year by the government ranks schools across the country on measures which included the academic attainment and the percentage of students who stay on for further education.
Compulsory education ends at the age of 16 in the UK, after which students can either leave to find work or go on to further education.
According to the ‘Progress 8’ framework that the UK government uses to measure performance, schools are now judged on the progress students make in addition to the grades they achieve.
At Tauheedul Islam at least 83.3 percent of students received high grades in Mathematics and English, while the institute got a 69.9-point score on the Progress 8 scale. This was the fourth consecutive year that the school had topped the national table.
The top three schools were classified as ‘Well Above Average’ in terms of attainment by the government and were judged to be ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted – the British government body that are in charge of ensuring educational quality for privately owned and state schools.
During a statement, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) stated that the statistics showed faith schools were performing well despite the negative perceptions they receive.
“Credit must go to the teachers, parents, and of course students, at these high performing Muslim faith schools for their excellent achievement,” said Secretary-General of the MCB Harun Khan.
“Their results show that with hard-work and dedication, children of all backgrounds and in any educational setting can achieve their utmost.”
