The public schools' association for religion teachers, Religionslærerforeningen, has today urged that the controversial Mohammed Cartoons, which were first printed in Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005, should become part of the public school curriculum as quickly as possible.
And now, several political parties – including Socialdemokraterne, Dansk Folkeparti (DF) and Konservative – have voiced their support for that idea, although the degree of support varies.
”It would be natural for the cartoons to become part of the material that the teachers can choose to use,” Mai Mercado, the political spokesperson for Konservative, told DR Nyheder.
”But there is a freedom of method that means the teachers have a right to use other material should they choose to do so.”
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Obligatory material
But that's not enough for DF. The right-wing party has called for the controversial illustrations to be obligatory learning in public school classes.
And in contrast to Konservative, which maintains the cartoons should be taught in history class, DF wants the material to be taught in religious studies.
”One of our time's great challenges is the threat from Islamism and the pressure on freedom rights that have built up over many years,” Martin Henriksen, the immigration spokesperson for DF, said.
”If they really want to do something right, in terms of making sure that the students – including those with a Muslim background – know which freedom rights we have in Denmark, they should go all the way.”
Many school across Denmark already teach the Mohammed Crisis as part of their history or social studies classes or Christian instruction in grade 9, but it's not obligatory, according to the Education Ministry.
