British government to make Muslim schools teach children about Christianity?

Park View School in Birmingham, one of three schools inspected as part of the "Trojan Horse" investigationsJoe Giddens/PA Wire

A report in the media suggests British government ministers are divided over a proposal to make Muslim schools teach their students about the Christian faith.

England's faith schools, particularly Muslim, have come under closer scrutiny in the wake of the 'Trojan Horse' scandal in which a government investigation found that Birmingham schools were the targets of "coordinated, deliberate and sustained action to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos".

The government report concluded there was evidence that "young people are being encouraged to accept unquestionably a particular hard-line strand of Sunni Islam that raises concerns about their vulnerability to radicalisation in the future".

The Daily Mail reports that the plan has been put forward by Britain's new Education Secretary Nicky Morgan as a response to the Trojan Horse plot.

Mrs Morgan's plan would require schools to teach about two world religions, rather than the one world faith they are required to teach at present.

Most schools opt to teach their own faith but Mrs Morgan apparently wants to bring in the change so that Muslim schoolchildren learn "different perspectives".

However, the Daily Mail reports that Eric Pickles is challenging the proposal because it would equally require other faith schools to teach about Islam.

A government insider told the newspaper his objection is grounded in concerns about the freedom of Catholic and Jewish schools to restrict their teachings to their own faith and "preserve their distinctive ethos".

The insider added that Theresa May was "fully supportive" of the plan because it would "stop a new generation of Muslims from being lost to the extremists".

The Daily Mail further reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is "broadly supportive" of the move, while Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols has reservations.