The Launch of a Madrasah Guidance Booklet will take place on 23rd March 2010 – 7.00 - 8.30 pm at Madani High School, 77 Evington Valley Road. Leicester LE5 5LL. This book contains information about the policies and process Madrasahs must have in place to ensure children are safe and focusing on safeguarding, behaviour management, safer recruitment and health and safety.
There are approximately 10,000 Muslim children attending many Madrasahs (supplementary schools) across the county. The Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) have mapped these, many are in formal setting. Most are run from Masajids (Mosques) or community centres with a few also running from Primary and Secondary School. The FMO has visited most of these Madrasahs and has also begun the exercise of mapping Madrasahs which are run in informal setting like homes.
The Madrasah project was setup two years as a partnership project between FMO and the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board, which includes the Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, the Leicestershire Police and other public agencies. The aim is to look at supporting Madrasahs to develop the right awareness, policies, procedures and working practices when working with children in order to safeguard the welfare of children and safeguard the Madrasah.
The approach of this project has been to work with Madrasahs at the outset in the planning of the objectives and work needed. At the same time, the project recognises that many Madrasahs already have good safeguards in place and provide a safe environment for children’s education. The project is also aiming to learn from Madrasahs and disseminate good practise to other Madrasahs.
The FMO has been able to employ a fulltime dedicated worker, Mohammed Patel, who is able to offer Madrasah’s support on an ongoing basis, this support includes help with basic queries and more complicated matters. It seeks to, promote standards for a safe environment for children, raise awareness for knowing what to do for concerns enhance joint working between agencies and build capacity of Madrasah staff and volunteers. |