NSW government announces state wide audit to combat schoolyard radicalism

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird has announced a state-wide audit of prayer groups across all public schools, following allegations that a year 12 student has been spreading religious fundamentalism at Sydney's Epping Boys High School.

A memo, outlining the obligations to report extremism, will be given to school principals by the NSW Department of Education and NSW Police. It is expected to cover the programs of all faiths and check whether Islamic State ideology has made any inroads to religious education.

Premier Baird promised he would not allow schools to tolerate religious bigotry and radicalism, and that he would ensure “extremism finds no foothold in our schools and communities.” NSW police also reported that the radicalisation of young minds, including school students, was a “worsening” problem.

According to Skynews, while deputy opposition leader Linda Burney acknowledged the importance of the audit, she also said the move would be better if it was more specific with its goals. 'If it's all religious instruction, the review would be extremely difficult because it would be huge. You would have to ask who's going to do it and how much it's going to cost,” she remarked.

Mrs Burney felt that the government should work more specifically to generate better responses. In addition, she said, “'I want to know where there are Islamic prayer groups being offered in schools and what sort of oversight is in place.”

A member of the InterAction multifaith youth network, Mohammed El-leissy, said the focus should be on “quality control” as young minds are easily swayed, reported the ABC . He also suggested that the government should hire more professional bodies to oversee the prayer groups.

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