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Pork reference in Sharjah school book draws parents' ire

Sharjah - School instructed to refrain from teaching lesson; investigations still on.

A question "Do you like eating pork" as part of an exercise during an education enrichment lesson taught at a private elementary school has provoked parents in Sharjah.
The parents complained that the question, along with a picture of a pig, shouldn't be included in the curriculum, since eating of pork is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Hessa Al Khajja, head of the private education Department at Sharjah Education Zone said the investigation committee was assigned to detect the violation by the school and under instruction of Ministry of Education (MoE). The committee detected the book and instructed the school to refrain from teaching the lesson and referred the investigation to MoE for action against the school. The school will face tough penalty for the violation, as the book was used without permission from the MoE.
MoE will not tolerate schools that teach subjects without its permission which is granted only based on approved standards.
She urged parents to inform the ministry of any violations which oppose Islamic teachings and values.
She pointed out that all syllabi being taught in schools are approved by a special committee at MoE.
Al Khajjah said the MoE in many cases as these, orders the school to omit the lesson or modify it, for example changing the word pork to lamb. In other cases the MoE confiscates the whole book and bans it.
Khaleej Times spoke to many parents who said that their children in grade 2 came home and talked about pork and said they wanted to eat it. "We send our children to schools to get good education and learn values, but it is shocking to hear them talk about something prohibited in our religion," Maha Abu Al Reesh, a parent said.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com