Three Islamic schools have had their federal funding spared after promising to enact greater financial transparency measures, the education minister, Simon Birmingham, has said.
The schools – in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth – will be subject to quarterly checks until the end of 2017 to ensure that they stick to their commitment.
“These three schools have demonstrated a willingness to cooperate, a willingness to reform their governance structures, to guarantee their schools’ independence and have appropriate accountability for how taxpayer dollars are used,” Birmingham said.
The three schools receive a total of $17m in federal funding.
In November, the government announced that six Islamic schools – all affiliated with the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils – would be investigated for alleged breaches of the Education Act.
Birmingham said alarm bells were raised about the way Afic influenced both the school boards and the financial arrangements of the schools that were investigated.
“There were concerns that there were arrangements in place that enabled other external entities to generate a profit out of certain loan structures or other financial arrangements that the schools had in place,” the education minister said. “That is an unacceptable arrangement to have when those entities or those other external bodies may also be having some influence over the governance decision within the school.”
Two schools, in Canberra and Sydney, have already had their federal funding cut off, after the government was unconvinced that it was taking the appropriate steps to reform its governance structures.
Sydney’s Malek Fahd, the largest Islamic school in Australia, has vowed to fight the decision all the way to the high court if necessary.
One more school, in Adelaide, will have a decision on its future in the coming weeks.
“We hope that we will be able to see a positive resolution there but the department is still working through careful issues in relation to that school community,” Birmingham said.
Islamic schools give children good educational outcomes and must be saved, an Afic spokesman, Keysar Trad, wrote in Australasian Muslim Times last month.
But he acknowledged that Afic must overcome its infighting and internal rivalries.
“There is no doubt that Afic is currently going through some serious hurdles and needs to reinvent itself and excel above the challenges it currently faces,” Trad wrote. “Concerned and competent members of the Muslim community cannot afford to be silent observers or merely criticise Afic as outsiders but must come forward to contribute in saving this Australian national Muslim asset.”
