Primary schools ban Muslim pupils from fasting during Ramadan with one saying it is a health risk for young children

I am very pleased at this commonsense attitude. I am particularly pleased as one of the schools is my old school, and I know the other two from my youth. I expect pressure will be brought to bear on the head teachers but please, hold firm. The points made in your letter to parents is completely correct. These fasting children are trophies to bring credit to the family – their welfare is not paramount in many homes.

A primary school trust has banned Muslim pupils from fasting during Ramadan, claiming the tradition can be harmful to the health of young children.

Barclay Primary School in Leyton, east London, issued a letter to parents informing them that it would not allow children attending school to fast in order to ‘safeguard the health and education of the child’. 

The move has been slammed by members of the Muslim community who said schools should seek to support parents instead of ‘blanket enforce’ their own rules when it comes to religion. 

In the letter issued yesterday, the school claimed to have ‘sought guidance’ before implementing the ban. ‘We are reliably informed that in Islamic Law, children are not required to fast during Ramadan, only being required to do so when they become adults,’ it said.  It continued to describe how children ‘fainted’ and ‘became ill’ during last year’s festival after going without food or water for ’18 hours, a significant amount of time for a child.’ 

Alongside Barclay Primary School the ban will be implemented across three other schools which belong to the trust. They are Sybourn Primary School and Thomas Gamuel Primary School in Waltham Forest and Brook House Primary School in Haringey. 

The letter, posted on 5pillars, a British Muslim publication, was today criticised by members of the Muslim community which said deciding whether a child should fast or not is the prerogative of their parent. 

The Muslim Association of Britain said there were enough rules in place to protect the vulnerable from fasting without school’s interference.’MAB ascertains that the final choice of whether or not to fast should be the right of the parents, who should in turn encourage their children to fast without forcing them to do so.’

Dr Omer El-Hamdoon, the President of MAB added parents ought to have the ultimate say in whether their child participates in the fast. 

From 5 Pillarz Reacting to the news Ibrahim Hewitt, a former headteacher, told 5Pillars that the school could not possibly justify the prohibition on health and safety grounds. “I’ve had five or six year olds fasting in my school without any problems. . .”