The Muslim Association of Bradford (MAB) established the
second oldest Mosque in the UK in the 1950’s (Howard Street Mosque in
Bradford). However, by 1983, the MAB realised that opening newer and better
Masjids needed to be complemented with Islamic Mainstream School Education,
because the negative influence of the non Islamic culture, education and
environment on our children (especially the girls) was tremendous. To that end,
the MAB set-up the Muslim Girls School in 1984 at the Ryan Street site in
Bradford with 26 girls. The demand for the school has since increased
significantly.
The following points trace the struggle of the school to
fight for the rights which the other religions (Christian and Jewish) are
enjoying in the UK. You may like to know that there over 7000 such Christian
and Jewish private schools (funded by the Government) which have over 1.6
Million pupils studying in them. To date the Muslims have not had the same
level of rights afforded to them.
- MAB establish Muslim Girls School (for girls aged 13 to 18 years) in 1984
at the Ryan Street site.
- Provisional registration with the Department of Education & Science
(DES) in 1984.
- Full registration with DES in 1990 (after six years of struggles and three
Government inspections).
- Moved to Feversham site in 1993 (230 girls).
- Application and proposal for VAS submitted to DES in May 1994.
- Decision by Secretary of State for Education not to grant VAS
status in February 1995.
- New Application for VAS submitted from Undercliffe Middle School in
October 1999 to Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) for a 580
girls school, with full support of the Local Education Authority (LEA).
- Two inspections carried out by DfEE inspectors in 1999. Insha-Allah,
expected decision on VAS Application 2000.
- VAS is granted by the DfEE on Friday 6th October 2000
,
Alhamd-u-Lillah. The DfEE will fund 85% of the Total Capital Costs for the
project with the remainder 15% being raised by the MAB.
- Once the school becomes fully functional, the total running costs will be
fully met by the Bradford LEA.
-
The total capital cost for building the completely
new school is: £6,000,000. The DfEE will fund 85% of this (£5,000,000).
The MAB need to raise the remaining 15% (£1,000,000).
APPEAL:
Our Respected Muslim Brothers and Sisters, this amounts to a significant
amount of money. However, this is not just a Muslim Girl’s School
project for us. As far as we Muslims are concerned, this is fighting for our
fundamental rights, a legal right denied to us, yet something that the Christian
and Jewish communities enjoy. With your Dua’s and help, Feversham College has
become the first Muslim school in the UK to achieve VAS, Alhamd-u-Lillah.
However, an equally important fact is that this will open up the door for the
remaining seventy plus (+70) Muslim Girls Schools in the UK to achieve the same
status. This will represent a major breakthrough for the Muslims of this
Country, in terms of sustaining and indeed propagating the Islamic faith. You
have made this the first Upper Muslim Girls School in the UK to be
recognised by the UK Government. Now, help it to become the first Upper
Muslim Girls School in the UK to be fully operational.
Please donate generously : every penny and pound counts. For
every £1.00 (15%) you donate, the DfEE will match this with £5.67 (85%).
PLEASE NOTE: WE CANNOT ACCEPT ZAKAT DONATIONS FOR THIS PROJECT.
Bank: Barclays Bank, PO Box, 10 Market Street, BD1 1NR.
Bank Sort Code: 20-11-81
Account name: Feversham College VAS Appeal Account
Account Number: 70763128
Feversham College
Feversham Street,
Bradford, BD3 9QL,
West Yorkshire,
England.
Tel:
00-44-1274-743428
Fax:
00-44-1274-729890
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER : 1003475
