ࡱ> (*'#` <bjbjmm .< 0000 < TTTTTTTT5777777$lh [TT[TTpRTT55TH p}050    T>,$TTT[[  TTT   $0   0$ To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/feb/11/furthereducation.uk Minister claims colleges must fight extremism Anthea Lipsett Monday February 11 2008 Education Guardian Colleges are under "serious" threat of terrorism and have a duty to tackle extremism, the further education minister, Bill Rammell, said today. Colleges had a "unique role to play" in promoting openness, free debate and tolerance, said Rammell as he launched a consultation that will lead to guidance on how colleges should "promote community cohesion, foster shared values and prevent violent extremism". He said staff and students needed to be made aware of their roles in preventing violent extremism. The minister said colleges will be expected to promote and reinforce "shared values" by creating space for free and open debate and "listening to and supporting mainstream voices". Colleges should also break down segregation among different student communities by "promoting dialogue" and getting students to do more to engage with wider society. Campuses should be free from bullying, harassment and intimidation and colleges should support vulnerable students and offer appropriate advice, guidance and sources of support to all staff and students. The FE consultation mirrors updated guidance issued to universities last month. This university guidance suggested higher education institutions with large numbers of Muslim students should reject demands for separate prayer and washing facilities to avoid creating religious segregation on campus. They should also consider banning violent Islamist speakers. According to government analysis, the biggest current threat the UK faces is from al-Qaida-influenced terrorism. The threat in FE colleges is "serious" but not widespread. Rammell said: "Our shared values which bind communities together belong to everyone in Britain; they are not possessed by any one race, creed or nationality. The further education sector's task is to foster these values in their institutions. "Many colleges already play an important role in their communities and are ideally placed to expand their work into reinforcing shared values and protecting their students and staff from those who would seek to exploit the freedom we all benefit from in this country to promote violence or incite racial hatred." The government has been working with the Association of Colleges on the consultation. AoC's acting chief executive, Sue Du said: "Organisations such as colleges, schools and universities have a duty to their students and to society at large to promote community cohesion. "These proposals contribute to continuing college efforts to take all appropriate action for fostering shared community values, including dealing with extremism in any form." The National Union of Students welcomed the consultation and called for student involvement at all stages of the process to avoid unnecessary victimisation of Muslims. However, the union said it was disappointed the government did not expand the consultation to address the problem of gun and knife crime. "We believe that there should be a comprehensive approach to ensure safety on campus, and this is a problem faced by many students in FE institutions," said president Gemma Tumelty. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2009 ;< h|ho,!h|ho,B*OJQJ^Jph<<,1h. A!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No List<   a>+< > Mr > 0< < < +s },s $-s 9.s > > B*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace u|7>   >  > : ; > > ,@k< p@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial"qhԆdFC C !246 6 3KX)?o,28To see this story with its related links on the guardian Margie SavoryDenise SummersOh+'0 ( @L l x <To see this story with its related links on the guardianMargie SavoryNormalDenise Summers2Microsoft Office Word@G@*r@x¹}C ՜.+,0  hp|  6 ' 9To see this story with its related links on the guardian Title  !"#$%&)Root Entry F`}+1TableWordDocument.SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q