State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date

The school said students should heed their faith and eschew dating. Stock photo: Iris

State-funded Danish Muslim school tells girls not to date

The private Muslim school Iqra Privatskole, located in Copenhagen’s Nørrebro district, received 18.5 million kroner in state-funded support in 2015. But the school’s outlook on dating may put future funding in jeopardy.

The school’s psychologist told Radio24syv in an interview that the school tells its female pupils not to have boyfriends. 

 

“It is a command from God that one must not enter sexual relationships or dating relationships,” Amina Djondjorova told Radio24syv. 

 

“It is hard to maintain the religious Islamic regulations in a society where they [the school’s students, ed.] see that others around them live in a different way. But nevertheless we try to tell them that it is best to refrain from acting on a crush,” she added. 

 

The psychologist’s remarks led Copenhagen City Council member Lars Aslan Rasmussen to call for the school’s funding to be yanked. 

 

“One should definitely remove support from a school whose psychologists can’t figure out how to be psychologists but instead act like imams,” he told Radio24syv. 

 

“The majority of the school’s subsidy is covered by Danish taxpayers, so this should definitely have consequences,” he added. 

 

Rasmussen said the school’s advice to female students is “crazy” and he called on the Education Ministry to take the school’s policy “very seriously”. 

 

Conservative spokesman Naser Khader also called for the school’s funding to be withdrawn. 

 

“The school is encouraging isolation rather than integration into Danish society and that can damage the children later in life,” he told BT. 

 

He said the school should not get involved with students’ private life and he accused it of having double standards for targeting female students with its advice. 

“They live in Denmark and should follow the laws on Danish public schools. They receive support from the Danish state and you can require something from them [in exchange],” he added. 

 

The school has declined to comment further but in her original interview, Djondjorova told Radio24syv that the school advises pupils to follow their faith when it comes to relationships.

 

“We cannot stop love – that’s natural. But one shouldn’t try to develop it into a physical relationship if marriage is not the goal,” she said.