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Aussie gov't to audit school prayer groups amid allegations of religious extremism

Xinhua, July 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

The New South Wales (NSW) government will audit prayer groups across the state's school system following allegations that a 17-year-old has been preaching radical Islam at a Sydney high school.

The NSW Department of Education and NSW Police will issue a memo to all school principals on Tuesday, outlining their obligations to report extremism, the reported first step in a suit of planned measures.

Police will also develop training for the education department on radicalization and extremism.

The audit will cover prayer groups and programs of all religions.

NSW Premier Mike Baird promised to make sure "extremism finds no foothold in our schools and communities."

"Our schools should be, and are, havens of tolerance, places where students can explore the reaches of imagination and knowledge," Baird said. "We will never allow them to become the setting for extremist ideologies."

On July 24, police confirmed a year 12 student who attends Epping Boys High School, in the north-west of Sydney, was being investigated over allegations he was preaching radical Islam in the schoolyard.

News Corp reported the investigation was looking at possible links between the boy and Milad bin Ahmad-Shah al-Ahmadzai, who in August 2014 was convicted of threatening to slit the throat of an Australian government official.

The head of the NSW Police Counter-Terrorism and Special Tactics Command, Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch, told Australia's national broadcaster that parents needed to be reassured police and schools were working together to protect students.

"This school that is the current focus of our attention is not unique," Murdoch said.

"We are in the business of keeping students and community safe right across the state, not just focused on one particular school or one particular set of circumstances."

Those becoming exposed to radical ideologies were falling with age, Murdoch said.

"We are no longer dealing with people in their 30s but we're seeing people of much younger ages becoming involved," Murdoch said.

"So it stands to reason that any of these young people would be in the education system or may have recently been at school.

"But please, people need to be assured that we have mechanisms in place, in conjunction with the education department, to deal with the problem." Endi