We like the anthem, says Islamic school

Strains of Advance Australia Fair rang out across an Islamic school on Friday, as it responded to claims it had banned students from singing the national anthem. Students and teachers at the Australian International Islamic College in Brisbane sang the anthem at the end-of-year assembly, led by the school's choir teacher who is Christian.

Controversy erupted after a former teacher at the college claimed the school in
suburban Durack had "banned" the anthem.
The school's trustee Keysar Trad said the anthem had never been banned, but a
decision had been taken not to regularly play it at school assemblies.
"A quick investigation we did ... found that because they have a daily assembly at
the school every morning, the principal came up with the idea - without getting the
full board's endorsement - she didn't want to perform the anthem every morning," Mr
Trad said.
"The anthem is being performed at every special function we have."
Mr Trad said the school choir had also performed the anthem at events outside the
college.
"Personally, I love the content because it's full of these wonderful words which
reflect values that we all share," he said.
Trustees and the board will meet to discuss the logistics of performing the anthem
at every school assembly.
A founding members of the Islamic school Sultan Deen said an extract from a memo
circulated at the school, which formed the basis of the allegation that the anthem
had been "banned", was taken out of context.
He said the memo put forward a teacher's suggestion that the anthem be sung every
morning at a daily assembly, but was dismissed by the principal without the school
board's approval.
The teacher was sacked from the school four months later due to performance issues,
Mr Deen said.
Mr Deen said the school employed both Muslim and Christian teachers.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister Rod Welford said the department expected state
schools to play the national anthem on formal occasions and ceremonies when the
Australian flag was raised.
"The playing of the anthem builds respect for official occasions and pride in the
role of schools in our nation," she said.