In the Islamic tradition education is seen as a responsibility for each and every individual as a key facet of their lives.
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
Recite in the name of your Lord who created –
خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
Created the human being from a clinging substance.
ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous –
ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ
Who taught by the pen –
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Taught the human being that which he knew not.
(Al Quran 96:1-5)
As an organisation a pillar of our work is training: we are proud to have trained over 240 Muslim youth from across Europe on topics ranging from active citizenship, advocacy, sustainability, mental health awareness and much more.
However, Muslims students often face unequal access to educational resources and high-quality education due to institutional and structural racism that segregates students, leaving them with fewer and lower-quality education than their counterparts.
“At current our education system is simply not fit for purpose, this must change in order to harness the potential of all people across our region. The curricula must be updated and representative in order to provide the young people of today the necessary skills which will allow them to function in an economic system that unfairly disadvantages them, racialised youth face an even greater challenge.” Hande Taner, President, FEMYSO
To ensure that all students have equal access to educational resources, European institutions and national governments must continue to strive towards closing the education gap and promoting legislation that seeks to address unequal access to high quality education.
As FEMYSO we will continue our mission to advocate on behalf Muslim students to help create an education system which works for all regardless of background or faith – on our journey towards a more diverse, vibrant and cohesive Europe.