More schools should take pupils on trips to mosques to tackle Islamophobia among their parents, the faith minister said.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth also said all churches, mosques, synagogues and temples should be twinned with places of worship from other faiths and should work together to serve as community hubs.
Many non-Muslims were afraid to enter a mosque, he said. “Occasionally, you find parents saying, ‘We’re not sure we want our kids to go to the local mosque.’ They are then persuaded by the school that it’s a good idea and the kids come back and tell them about it and the parents then say, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, perhaps we’ll visit ourselves.’”
He said mosque leaders had told him that “they wanted to attract school parties to go in to strip away some of the mystique and we are very keen for that to happen”.
Kamal Pankhania
