Midland faith leaders have called for a review of history education after the Government revealed schools were too scared to teach sensitive subjects such as the Holocaust and the slave trade.
The report by the Historical Association and funded by the Department for Education and Skills found a number of schools had dropped controversial subjects because teachers did not want to cause offence.
One Birmingham religious leader said it was essential children were taught about the slave trade, but warned the way it was delivered could further alienate black youngsters and lead them towards gang culture. The report does not identify specific schools, but cites cases:
* The Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework was dropped because teachers feared confronting "anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils";
* A department avoided teaching students about the Crusades because of concerns it would contradict what Muslim children were being taught in mosques;
* Christian parents at another school complained over the way the Arab-Israeli conflict was taught;
* The way the slave trade was taught could lead to white, as well as black, pupils, feeling alienated;
* A lack of factual knowledge among teachers, particularly in primary schools, led to "shallow" lessons on emotive subjects.
Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, the Birmingham-based chair of the Council of Black-led Churches, said it was essential for children to learn about the slave trade, the Holocaust and the Crusades, but also warned it was important to review the way they were being taught.
"Teaching topics like the Holocaust, like the slave trade or any other atrocity that has altered the course of history, would be in the interest of giving children a balanced education," he said. "What I have picked up from young people is that slavery is taught in a way that portrays black people in the way they were portrayed during the slave trade, in that they were stupid, uncivilised and that the white Europeans enslaved them for their own good."
Dr Aldred said this could be a reason why so many Afro-Caribbean youths had turned to gang culture.
"If they have been taught that they have no history or roots, many find their roots in the welcoming arms of gangs," he added.
Ruth Jacobs, a spokeswoman for the Singers Hill Synagogue in Ellis Street, Birmingham, said organisations were needed to help schools teach sensitive subjects rather than allowing them to drop classes.
"I think it is very short-sighted and I think the Holocaust is an important thing to teach because of what happened to a race of people – the Jews – who were threatened with annihilation and it is still happening in places like Darfur.
"I think it political correctness gone barmy."
Waqar Ahmedi, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, in Birmingham, who also teaches religious education at a senior school, said: "To teach issues to do with citizenship, teachers should be comfortable with teaching them, while taking into account the children's varying backgrounds.
"Muslims shouldn't be given preferential treatment when it comes to education."
A spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality said the Historical Association’s report painted a worrying picture, while a spokesman for the DfES said: "The national curriculum is a broad framework and there is scope for schools to make their own decisions, taking into account their circumstances. But teaching elements including the Holocaust and key British events will be compulsory."
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