New educational guidelines for preventing radicalisation

London, Nov 18 (UNI) Students should be taught how to spot extremist infiltrators to prevent them from preying on vulnerable young people, according to official guidelines, by the Department for Education and Skills.

Radical speakers with a history of inciting racism could be banned from campuses, say the guidelines published yesterday and tutors should work more closely with mosques and imams to prevent 'extremism in the name of Islam' taking hold. Lecturers should also work with the police, learning to recognise the signs of violent extremism and being more vigilant when students disseminate or preach radical Islamist views.

Presenting the new guidance, Bill Rammell, the Higher Education Minister, warned of a serious threat from Muslim extremists recruiting students to terrorism. He insisted that the advice was not about targeting England's 1.8 million Muslims, but about promoting safety and protecting vulnerable students from bullying and harassment.

''The guidance provides a recognition that I believe must be faced squarely that violent extremism in the name of Islam is a real, credible and sustained threat to the UK, and that there is evidence of serious, but not widespread, Islamist extremist activity in [higher education institutions],'' he said.

In the past the National Union of Students has adopted 'no platform' policies to keep groups, such as al-Muhajiroun, that were accused of distributing anti-Semitic literature, off campuses. The Government recently proscribed al-Muhajiroun under recent anti-terrorism legislation. Similar organisations have since re-emerged after being banned from universities simply by changing their names or infiltrating and taking over previously apolitical student Islamic societies.

Among colleges where there have been problems are the London School of Economics where Omar Saeed Sheikh, who took part in the kidnap and murder of Daniel Pearl, was radicalised and King's College London, where Omar Sharif, who became a suicide bomber in Israel, learnt his radical Islamism.

In a joint statement with Unison, the academic union UCU and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Gemma Tumelty, president of the National Union of Students, welcomed the 'moderate tone' of the guidance. She expressed regret that no practical steps to promote better integration had been suggested and feared that some recommendations were 'too open to interpretation' running the risk that some institutions could take too hard a line.

''Furthermore, NUS fears that by focusing solely on extremism 'in the name of Islam' there is the potential for a racist or Islamaphobic backlash against sections of the student community,' she said.

''This would be highly regrettable, and could have the effect of blocking channels of communication that are absolutely necessary to detection of terrorism,'' she said.

Some universities have already begun action to counter the risk of their students being radicalised. London Metropolitan University recently appointed Sheikh Musa Admani, a moderate imam and government adviser, to steer small numbers of students away from radical influences.

Universities UK, the umbrella group for British vice-chancellors, said yesterday that it took responsibility for civic safety seriously, but also warned that freedom of expression was also crucial to university life.

''Equally, legitimate opportunities for debate integral to the purpose of a university must not be subverted by organisations of any kind that seek to promote violence or to recruit our students to movements committed to violence,'' a statement said.

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