Anna Firth, Member of Parliament for Southend West, has today called for fair student finance for Muslim students.
Anna Firth, has called on the Government to implement appropriate student finance arrangements for Muslim students.
Mrs Firth, at the House of Commons Education Select Committee on which she serves, asked the Secretary of State Nadhim Zahawi to speed up the process of introducing a ‘Takaful’ system for Muslim student finance.
Central to Islamic finance is the belief that benefitting from lending money by charging interest or repaying more than the initial amount borrowed goes against scriptural teachings, and is therefore forbidden. Instead, they use the ‘Takaful’ system, which is based on mutual lending and borrowing within a group.
Many Muslim students may be deterred from taking out student loans from the Government to cover the tuition fees and living costs associated with higher education. This can act as a barrier to higher education for Muslims or cause financial hardship for those who do choose to study at university. Interim findings from the Muslim Census study suggests almost 10,000 students per year are affected in this way.
Introducing the ‘Takaful’ system would enable many more Muslim students to attend university.
Commenting, Anna said:
“One of my key campaigns in Parliament is to improve the education prospects of everyone in Southend West. Being a member of the Education Select Committee is a fundamental part of this commitment.
“I was contacted by a group of Muslim constituents who were struggling to access higher education because the current student loan system goes against their beliefs. I was delighted to raise this issue with the Secretary of State, and receive his reassurance that the Government would look into this.
“So much of the work that I do in Parliament is driven by issues that constituents raise with me, and that is why I am so keen to hear from as many constituents as possible.”
