More Britons interested in studying Islam - Report

Most Muslims want the world to know the true face of Islam from the right sources and not from the media that everyone tends to turn to for information about the noble religion.

Now Muslims got what they want. According to the Guardian, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) reported that the number of students enrolling in Islamic programs is growing.

As a matter of fact, the number of students taking Islamic studies increased by 12% between 2002 and 2006, creating a higher increase than all other studies, which only rose by 7%.

Moreover, the report showed that among the 635 students who were taking Islamic studies, 188 were at first degree level.

The report will help Hefce to determine where to allocate the GBP 1 million extra funding that was announced by the British government last June to improve the teaching of Islamic studies.

According to the Guardian, Hefce found that most undergraduate students were

female, while the majority of postgraduate students were male. Most of the male postgraduates had not studied the subject before and most of them had not previously studied in the UK higher education.

On top of universities providing such post-graduate programs is the University of Exeter’s Arabic and Islamic course with 53 students, while the University of Brimingham had the most studies of undergraduates with 62 students.

The report also stated that just under half (43%) of students studying Islamic studies programmes were Asian or Asian British, compared with 8% of students across all subjects of study and 5% for subjects related to Islamic studies, in the academic year 2005/6.

Twenty five percent of the total number of students studying Islam is found in the Midlands, while 16% live in London. Meanwhile, Scotland and Wales host the majority of Islamic studies students, or 29% of the UK's total postgraduate provision.

Source: AJP

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