In Manukau, south of Auckland, there is the only Islamic school in the country named Al-Madinah. There girls had to cease attending school after year 8, and their curriculum had prayers and religious education. I don't have any objection against religious education, personally, but I also stand by the virtue of secular, general education, guaranteed through the secondary school by the government. Recently the government has decided to take over the school.
What interests me is the ethnic component of the school: 45 per cent of the students are Fijian Indians, 16 per cent Somali, and 14 per cent Indian. In Fiji, Moslems are minority. Was is one of the reasons they chose to immigrate to NZ?
