A Swedish mother has reported Malmö municipality to the Swedish Schools Inspectorate after her seven-year-old daughter, who belongs to a Christian family, was forced to take part in the celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid at school.
The incident took place at Lorensborgsskolan in Malmö, where the majority of pupils have a Muslim background.
According to the mother, almost the entire class was absent from lessons that day due to the Eid celebrations, but the seven remaining children – including her daughter – were assigned to make Eid-related decorations and take part in the celebrations, despite the fact that this was taking place in the class that was supposed to be teaching Swedish.
No alternative activity was offered, claims the mother, who is a Christian herself and sees the whole thing as a form of religious indoctrination. She believes this violates the school’s duty of religious neutrality and the children’s right not to be exposed to religious practices during school hours.
EID: The daughter came home with “eid mubarak” and nice drawings of Muslim symbols with an address: To mum. Photo: Malmölistan
– This isn’t the first time Eid has been celebrated in this way at school. I feel like we don’t get to know what’s really going on until it’s too late,” says the mum.
She has now submitted a formal complaint to the Swedish Schools Inspectorate to assess whether the practice is legal.
The criticism is directed not only at the school, but also at the authorities’ handling of religion in public.
“We have freedom of religion in Sweden, but we must also have the right to freedom from religion. The school should not be a place for religious celebrations – regardless of religion,” she says.
Malmölistan, an alternative party to the established parties in the city, supports the mother and wants to get rid of religious celebrations in schools.
The school where it all unfolded has been in the spotlight in the past due to several arsons.