Commissioned by the Association of Islamic organizations of canton Lucerne (VIOKL), SAD conducted an evaluation of the teaching of Islam in two schools in the municipalities of Kriens and Ebikon. The main goal of the evaluation was to determine if the project made a contribution to improved cohabitation of Muslims and Christians, as well as to the integration of Muslim communities in Switzerland.

For the school year 2002/2003, a project called “Teaching Islam in the School House” was carried out in schools in Kriens and Ebikon. The goal of the project, which is supported by VIOKL, is to impart the fundamental beliefs of the Islamic faith in a child-friendly way, to encourage critical thinking and democratic qualities, and to facilitate the integration of Muslims into Swiss communities. “Teaching Islam in the School House” is supposed to make a contribution to create “Muslim insiders” who integrate constructively into Swiss society.

Initially, the project and its goals caused a fair amount of contro- versy in the media and strongly polarized the public. As a result, VIOKL requested that a neutral evaluation be conducted. The association wished to find out to what extent the project was fulfilling its goal of contributing to the integration of the Muslim community in Switzerland. In addition, the organisers hoped that the evaluation would demonstrate to the wider public what the project meant to the Muslim community in these towns and how the project could help create a more positive relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The evaluation conducted by SAD was based on individual and group interviews with those responsible for the project, participating parents and students, as well as with other key individuals involved with the project-school representatives, church communities, political groups-and on literature and document analysis. Perceptions of the project course and of the integration potential of the project were presented and compared.

The full evaluation text is available at SAD or can be downloaded as PDF on this page.

Partner

Vereinigung der islamischen Organisationen des Kantons Luzern (VIOKL)

Contact:
Katharina Haab
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Evalution Report

Islamischer Religionsunterricht im Schulhaus - Ein Projekt in Kriens und Ebikon
Elke-Nicole Kappus (2004) pdf 431KB