29 July 2010

Parents in hot water over missed swimming lessons

…. Several Muslim families have been fined for keeping their children out of mandatory school swimming lessons, the first time such a punishment has been handed down. Education authorities in canton Basel-City said on Thursday that seven children from five families had missed the lessons. Five of the children were removed on religious grounds. All of the students were girls under the age of ten.

.... Christoph Eymann, director of the canton’s education department, said it is important for schools to avoid creating parallel societies. There are a total of 1,033 Muslim boys and girls registered in the canton’s primary schools. [swissinfo.ch] Read more [via The Iconoclast]