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Last Updated: Jun 25th, 2007 - 17:07:26 |
Parents’ ire at school’s halal switch
BATTLE lines have been drawn at a West Hampstead primary school over the serving of halal-only meat.
Angry non-Muslim parents of children at Kingsgate School have been staging a week-long protest outside the gates, demanding that there should be a non-halal meat option.
For halal meat, an animal’s throat is slit and the blood allowed to drain from the neck.
Jacqueline Gomm, who has two children at the school in Kingsgate Road, has been at its gates all week collecting signatures, and plans to be there again today (Thursday) and tomorrow.
Ms Gomm, who has children with a Muslim partner, said: “My children are not Muslim. They should have a choice.” She also objects to halal on the grounds of animal cruelty.
Parent Neville Grant was unhappy about finding out about the change in policy only through reading about it in a newspaper.
Questionnaires were sent home with pupils and headteacher Liz Hayward says she stood outside the school for a week canvassing opinion.
Muslim Betissam Eljanfali, who has a child at the school, believed a compromise should be found. She asked: “Why can’t they cater for both?”
Ms Eljanfali said the debate was really about technicalities rather than a culture clash. She added: “The meat’s just slaughtered differently. It’s electrocution or slitting the throat.”
Parent Saido Aden agreed with the switch to halal-only meat. She said: “Muslims are only allowed halal. English people are allowed everything.” Ms Hayward said in a statement this week: “Our school’s governing body made the decision to introduce a halal option for the whole school after a consultation showed this is what most parents wanted.”
Ninety-one per cent of those who responded to the questionnaire said they wanted halal meat or did not object to the switch, she added.
But a Camden Council press official confirmed that only a third of the school’s parents responded, just 153 out of a possible 452. The school’s intake is 71 per cent Muslim, she added.
The press official said: “There will also be a vegetarian choice and a jacket potato with toppings of cheese, beans or fish, so there is always a hot, healthy option available for all children.”
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