The opening of an Arabic school in Milan without the permission of Italian authorities has rekindled polemics over the rights of Muslims here to give their children an education with an Islamic slant .
The school, in an eastern suburb of the Lombardy capital, started classes on Monday for about 60 Egyptian children. Sponsored by the Egyptian consulate, the initiative aims to offer a bilingual syllabus, including two hours' study of the Koran a week. The school's directors say they are inspired by the desire to promote integration. But the Milan-based Italian-Egyptian Association, which has helped run Arabic culture classes in local schools for the last two years, insists that having a separate school for children from Muslim families is a mistake .
"Working with children in a multicultural environment is an extremely delicate business and highly qualified personnel is needed," said Paolo Branca, professor of Arabic studies at Milan's Cattolica university and head of the Arabic culture programme. "I don't think the school in question is adequate in this sense," he added .
On Monday it emerged that the school had begun classes without having received authorisation from the regional education authority. Regional officials confirmed this but did not explain why the green light had been withheld .
The mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, said the opening of the school was "negative" and condemned what she called a "lack of respect" for the local administration. Other local politicians took a similar line .
Education Minister Giuseppe Fioroni confirmed on Tuesday that the school should not have opened but he stressed that his position had nothing to do with the fact that the pupils were Muslims .
"In Italy the opening of schools isn't decided according to the sort of school but according to norms and authorisations that must come from the relevant offices. If the school in Milan has these authorisations it can open. If not, it can't," he said .
Fioroni gave no indication of what action would be taken .
In September 2005 another unauthorised school in Milan was closed amid fierce polemics and demands that, in the interests of integration, the children be sent to normal state schools .
That school, in Via Quaranta, had been giving lessons to 500 mostly Egyptian children. Some of them returned to Egypt after the closure, others studied at home and others went to state schools where efforts were made to introduce Islamic culture classes .
PROTESTORS CALL FOR CLOSURE .
A demonstration was held outside the new school in Via Ventura on Tuesday. It was organised by the centre-right opposition party the Northern League, which traditionally takes a hard line on immigration .
Protestors called for the school's immediate closure, implying that it could be dangerous. "Even if they get authorisation in the future, we seriously doubt that they will want to teach culture and peaceful principles to these children," said League MEP Matteo Salvini .
He said that the children who had just started lessons were being exploited by adults in an "illegal and hostile act" .
Davide Boni, another League member and an official in the regional government, agreed, saying the school aimed to teach "a religious system that is not culturally compatible with ours" .
Many of the parents who brought their children to the school on Via Ventura on Tuesday said they did not understand the protests .
"Italian children in Egypt go to an Italian school. Why can't my Egyptian children go to a bilingual one?" they asked .
The new school, whose organisers have vowed to press ahead with lessons, has nine Italian teachers and nine Arabic ones. It is run by an organisation called Insieme (Together) made up of parents who formerly sent their children to the school in Via Quaranta .
