MUSLIM leaders have announced plans to open a secondary school in Derby which would be at the vanguard of the fight against extremism.

MUSLIM leaders have announced plans to open a secondary school in Derby which would be at the vanguard of the fight against extremism.

The faith school could open by 2012. It would ensure children can pray facing Mecca and teach a GCSE in Islamic Studies.

A leader of Normanton’s Islamic community involved with the scheme said that, by stressing the peaceful nature of Islam, he believed the school could turn children away from extremism.

Community leader Shahban Rehmat said: “If you are teaching people the ways of Islam and the true cause of Islam, then it stops negativity and it stops people saying the wrong thing.”

He stressed that non-Muslim teenagers would be able to attend the school and would not have to pray if they did not want to.

The school would teach the National Curriculum “in a religious atmosphere”.

The idea is the brainchild of community education group An-Noor Institute and Normanton’s Jamia Mosque.

The institute has been running a successful nursery in a community room next to the mosque, in Whitaker Street, since 2008.

In July the Telegraph revealed the institute’s plans for a Muslim primary school in the mosque building.

Plans for the secondary school have now been announced, although that would be in another building in Rose Hill Street.

It wants both schools to be part of the coalition Government’s free school scheme which enables any group to start a school without permission from local councils, funded by the Department for Education.

Mosque secretary Mr Rehmat said anyone could attend the new secondary school and would not have to pray if they did not want to.

He said it would be “un-Islamic” to force them.

Mr Rehmat said children at faith schools often had more respect for their education and, in this case, would be more likely to become good Muslims.

He said: “Various different groups all over the UK believe in terrorism. The teachings at the school would show people what truth means.

“An education like this would put people off fundamentalism and terrorism.

“It’s the same at any religious school – Jewish, Christian – you often find the children are more respectful.”

Mr Rehmat said that plans to maintain small class sizes and have more one-to-one tuition at the school may also attract non-Muslims.

He said: “Currently you get classroom sizes of between 30 and 40 kids. We would be aiming for the new classrooms to be smaller – capped at about 20.”

He said the school would have between 200 and 300 pupils.

Ziad Amjad, the project organiser, said the school could be open by September 2012.

He said that the institute was now planning to send out its free school applications for the primary and secondary schools to the Department for Education together.

These will be alongside a petition, already signed by more than 1,000 mainly Muslim people, calling for the secondary and primary schools to be opened.

The Government believes the free-school scheme will give parents more choice, narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor youngsters and drive up standards because of the element of competition it will create.

These schools are not obliged to teach the national curriculum.