Pupils taught to see 7/7 from bombers' perspective

Friday, 20 February 2009 12:00 AM

By Laura Miller

Some secondary school pupils will be asked to look at the co-ordinated suicide bombings on London's transport system from the standpoint of the Islamist extremists who carried them out

As part of a teaching resource aimed at encouraging pupils to engage with the many issues arising in multicultural Britain, pupils will present the events of July 7th from the "perspective of the bombers".

The module is one in a pack devised by Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire, where some of the July 7th terrorists lived.

Tahir Alam, of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said: "This isn't any different from any educational tool people use all the time. Pupils imagine they're poets and write a poem, or imagine they're living in the 12th century. If children are asked what the justification of bombings might be, they might talk about foreign policy or other grievances."

But while several education authorities have supported the resource, entitled "Things Do Change", the government has U-turned on its initial support, and removed the resource from a website for teachers on the orders of education ministers.

Students will also be encouraged to look at the attacks from the perspective of Muslims, Asian non-Muslims and other groups and individuals.

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• education
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• schools
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• secondary education