Press Release - 20 May 2009

QED and Bradford Madrassas to tackle joblessness in district's Muslim communities

A pioneering project set up by a Bradford based national charity has seen 3000 pupils benefiting from a drive to improve education standards in the Muslim community.

Fifteen Madrassas (supplementary schools held at the end of the school day) and 45 schools across the Bradford district, led by QED-UK, have been working tirelessly for two years to improve the educational achievement levels of Muslim children.

Over 3000 pupils are benefiting, with better communication between mainstream schools and Madrassa teachers, thanks to the QED Madrassa project funded by the Department of School, Children and Families.

Photo shows Mohammed Akbar, president and Hafiz Akhlaq Ahmed of Al-Hudda Masjid at a recent meeting of QED Madrassa Partnership

Mohammed Afsar of Madni Masjid said: "As a result of the QED initiative we have much better links with schools and now feel comfortable just picking up the phone and talking to teachers.

"Teachers have recently requested two weeks study leave from Madrassa studies so children can prepare for their SATs. We were pleased to agree to this. This would not have happened in the past."

QED has set up similar partnerships with 45 Madrassas and 135 schools in Oldham, Manchester and Leicester. At an annual gathering of 300 parents and children in Manchester, Cllr Afzal Khan, ex Lord Mayer of Manchester and Tony Lloyd MP for Manchester, presented certificates to children who took part in an annual literacy competition and praised QED for taking this initiative.

Based on this successful partnership in education, Madrassas in Bradford have now agreed to work with QED to address disproportionately high unemployment levels amongst Muslim communities.

Mohamed Ali OBE, founder and chief executive of QED, welcomed this. He said: "There is an unacceptable difference in the employment rate between Muslim communities and other communities. This could get worse in the current economic climate and must be addressed if we want to have cohesive and harmonious communities.

"Madrassas are keen to play a role in addressing worklessness in our communities. This will be good for our society and shows the concern community leaders have for these issues."

Mohammed Ali OBE said; "QED and Madrassa are leading the way in showing how deep rooted obstacles can be tackled with support of grass root communities and we will be looking at new ways to address other barriers to Muslim communities’ educational, social, health and economic wellbeing."