The Council Of European Jamaats

In this report, we shall be giving you an insight in the projects currently under the Education Committee portfolio. We hope that after reading this report, you will agree that a considerable amount has been achieved in the last six months. This does not mean to say, that the Education Committee has reached its optimum but instead is looking into expanding its horizons to initiate further projects to meet the needs of the community in general. We are already in the process of planning new projects and are working out the practicality and feasibilities of such projects.  

Inshallah with the formation of a fully-fledged secretariat, we are confident that this long awaited move would enable us to run our projects with far more efficient ways especially in the day to day administration resource that we constantly need.

We hope to receive valuable feedback, ideas and comments from you. The Education Committee’s main point of contact is the chairman Alhaj Mahmood Dhala and is contactable on 07957 330 655 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

CoEJ Education Team

5th G C S E STUDY SKILLS - December 2003

December 2003 saw the fifth residential GCSE study skills course was held at the Zaynabia centre, Birmingham. Demand for the course was overwhelming, with more than twice as many applicants as places. The course was run by Dr. Mahmood Datoo, Br. Amir Walji and Br. Arif Hasham, with the assistance of returning external speaker Dalia Jolli. It aimed to provide student entering GCSE courses with the skills to succeed, and those in year 11 approaching exams with tips to achieve their potential. A full report can be found on the Education section of the Council’s website.

As with the times, the course structure changes and adapts to the needs of the students. This year saw the introduction of revision “surgery”, where students were able to ask the teachers questions on specific subjects that they felt they needed help with. This proved extremely successful, with Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics help on offer.

Based on the feedback from this year’s course, 2004 sees the advent of a new format for GCSE Students. The need for separate courses for Y10 and Y11 students has been identified and CoEJ Education Committee is aiming to fulfil the requirements of the community. Planned are two three to four day residential courses in Christmas 2004, Easter 2005 for year 11 and year 10 respectively. The year 11 course will be a revision “crash course” in specific subjects, where as the year 10 course will focus on generic “learning skills” similar to what has been run in the past.

GCSE STUDY SKILLS at Al-Khoi Schools, London

The Education Committee has for the last number of years running this programme for the Al Khoi School, at their specific request. The residential course is converted into a one day seminar held at the school itself. This year’s seminar was run by Dr. Mahmood Datoo at the Al Khoi school in late January 2004.

KEY STAGE 2 SEMINAR

The Key Stage 2 seminar was jointly sponsored by the Education Committee and Stanmore Hussein Tuition and too place at Husseini Islamic Centre, Stanmore. This was a two day seminar for students and their parents. The seminar is run by professionals within our community who are in the teaching field. This year we had Sis Hamidabai Hussein, a teacher and organiser of this seminar and Sis Marziyahbai Panju, a teacher by profession and a key stage 2 exam marker.

UNIVERSITY STUDY SKILLS @ Minneapolis Jamaat, U. S. A.

The Education Committee was approached by the Minneapolis Jamaat, U.S.A for the University Study Skills course to be conducted at their centre in the United States. The Education Committee were more than happy to conduct the course in their Jamaat and the course was run by Dr. Mahmood Datoo during his visit to the Minneapolis Jamaat in March 2004.

We received extremely positive feedback from the participants and organisers in Minneapolis, U.S.A. A full unedited report from a participant has been placed on the council’s website which includes pictures.

UNIVERSITY RESULTS 2004

The recognition of achievements of the community’s graduates is paramount if the community is to see an influx of Human Resources in the community centres and regional organisations over the next decade. The Education Committee has over a number of years been arranging for the graduates to post their results on the council’s website. The 2004 results page is currently under review and should be ready to be uploaded in early July 2004.

The names and results of all past and present graduates can be viewed on the council’s website. The Council of European Jamaat is the only regional body that has such a facility and names from students across the world irrespective of the Jamaat are added to our database.


6th Residential Camp for Boys – Sweden 2004

This year’s camp is going to take place at Karso Garden (3rd Consecutive year to held at this camp site) from 18th – 30th July 2004. This year’s advertising for the camp began as early as March and we have been inundated with applications. The final list has been finalised after receiving applications totalling 150% of our total capacity. We have had to reject a number of applicants since the facilities at Karso Garden are limited and cannot take more campers. Majority of those rejected are repeat campers from previous years and hence priority was given to new applicants.

The camp provides a unique opportunity for boys aged 11-17 to meet, get to know and make lasting friendships with brothers of their own age and background within an Islamic background. The mix of applicants means that the camp is not exclusive to England, but provides an unrivalled opportunity for members from other European Jamaats, including Sweden, Switzerland, France to take part. This is one of very few opportunities for our young generations to meet each other from different counties and countries. However, to add to the diversity of the experience, we are able to take applicants from around the world, East Africa, USA, Canada and India have all participated, making the camp what it is.

The Sweden camps are not only targeted at the 11-17 age group, but are a fantastic opportunity for the youth mentors to develop. These are youths 18-23 who look after the campers, and run lessons, sports, quizzes, debates etc. It is a springboard for personal development, and allows them to express their talents and help others. The position they hold is one of a role model, and is one of great responsibility. They therefore undergo a strict vetting process to ensure that the image they portray is one of CoEJ values. By this experience, the mentors themselves are learning about themselves, and the administration team take much time to guide them through this process. The opportunity to be around the tutors of the camp also provides invaluable experience in personal guidance and the organisation of such events. The vigorous training and being part of the camp allows us to instil an ethos of serving this community for the sake of Allah (SWT). This year’s mentors are coming from the Jamaats across Europe namely, Stanmore, Hyderi, Peterborough, Birmingham and Sweden.

We at Education Committee invite the CoEJ Executive and all board members to pay a visit at the campsite during the residential camp. Come and see how a Holiday with a Difference has a positive change in the young members of this community to become better individuals and maintain their identity as Khoja Shia Ithnashari.  A full live daily update will be available at the camp dedicated website (http://camp.coej.org) and we urge you all to visit it when the camp is in progress.

CULTURAL & RELIGIOUS TRIP- IRAN 2004

After a lapse of 3 years,  the Education Committee has re-launched its Iran summer camp programme. This year’s trip will be held at the Madressa Imam Ali (A.S.), in Qum which is affiliated with the Islamic Education Board of The World Federation. The Madressa has been eager to help in giving western students a chance to experience life in the holy city along with gaining valuable knowledge and understanding of Islam.

A successful marketing campaign meant that this year’s trip was over subscribed by 50%. Only 16 applicants between the ages of 18-22years could be accommodated and hence all applicants had to be thoroughly vetted. This was done through references and a detailed questionnaire which was prepared by the Madressa Imam Ali (A.S.) and input from CoEJ Education. All 16 applicants have now been finalised and a dedicated email group has been set up so that they may get to know each other before the trip. This years trip has applicants from the Stanmore, Birmingham, Leicester, Essex, Sweden and Canada.

The dates of the trip this year are 17th July to 15th August 2004. The first 3 weeks being taken up with Islamic Studies and spiritual upliftment. Lectures will be given from various Scholars in Qum who have been specially selected for their understanding of topics and their ability in the English language. Not only that but the students will also have opportunities to visit places of interest in Iran like Tehran, Hammadan and Isfahan. The final week will be used be purely for Ziyarat of the Holy Shrines in Mashad.

InshAllah we hope to update parents and others on the progress of the trip via a dedicated website, with pictures and reports, which will be updated regularly during the trip. A full detailed report will be presented after the visit. The Iran website is currently under development and the link will be posted on the Council’s main website.


2nd UCAS SEMINAR

The 2nd one day UCAS Seminar will inshallah take place at the Hujjat Islamic Centre, Stanmore on 9th October 2004. This is the second consecutive year that the Education Committee will be holding this seminar after receiving an extremely promising and positive feedback from last year’s participant.

The seminar is designed to assist A’ Level students in effectively completing their UCAS forms for entry to University. The UCAS form is the only means to enter university in England and Wales and getting it right the first time is essential to the success of any student.

This year’s seminar is going to be conducted by Br. Arif Hasham, a qualified teacher and principal of a sixth form school in London. He will be assisted by Br. Ali Panju, an undergraduate student from Cambridge University and an Education Committee Core team member.


8th UNIVERSITY STUDY SKILLS

The 8th Residential University Study Skills will Inshallah be taking place from 5th – 9th October 2004 at the Syeda Zannabiya Building, Birmingham. The publicity and promotion for this course is due to commence at the end of this month.  A full report of last year’s course is available on the council’s website. This course has been very popular to those about to enter University or already at university as it does not only cover study skills aspect but tackles social life and how we as Shia's need to be prepared to be confronted on politics that take place around the world.


TEACHERS RETREAT – LA Retreat

This retreat is organised by IEB of NASIMCO and is co-sponsored by CoEJ Education and Africa Federation.  This year’s retreat is going to be taking place in Los Angeles, U.S.A.  We are pleased to report that four teachers from Europe will be representing CoEJ Education.

Sis Marziyah Panju from Stanmore - Marziyahbai is an active volunteer on several projects and has represented CoEJ Education in several projects over the years. She has been an instrumental person in organising the Key Stage 2 course and also a key contributor for The Tripartite Exchange newsletter over the years, CoEJ has been a co-sponsor of this as well. At the Allentown retreat Marziyahbai will present a paper on Using Mind maps in the Madrassah - with the title yet to be confirmed.

Sis Sayyeda Jiwa from Peterborough - the head of the CoEJ Khawateen Committee. Besides being a very active member of CoEJ, she is also the head of the Peterborough Madressah and inshallah will also be representing CoEJ at the Allentown retreat. Please feel free to communicate to her - Saeeda bai will deliver a presentation to the community at large, where she can apprise the participants and the community of the efforts and thoughts in lesson plan development in Europe.  

Sr. Shakila Meghjee from Birmingham - Shakila bai, is a teacher at the madressah in Birmingham. She has been teaching for approximately a year and half. She also worked on safety aspects that teachers and students needed to know during madressah and for the last 4 months she has undertaken the responsibility of Head of the Primary level of the madressa. She carries out assessments and is looking to use more resources at the madressah to bring better professionalism and higher standards.

Sis Fatemabai Bandali from Wessex – Fatemabai hails from Wessex and besides being involved heavily in youth matters in Wessex Jamaat, she is also an active member of the WF women's desk and had attended the WF conference in Dubai.  Sis Fatimabai teaches Fiqh at Wessex madressa which has been her main subject since she joined the Madressa in 1998. She has taught fiqh across various age groups and tried to make it easy and relevant as possible.

A full report from the four representatives is expected upon the completion of the retreat and the Education Committee is hoping to hold various seminars across the region run by the four participants to impart their knowledge to the rest of the teachers in our community.


STUDENT DATABASE

The Education Committee is now embarking upon a long term project of creating a database of students that participate in the Education Committee courses and seminars. The creation of such a database will allow us to track through the progress each student as they go through a cycle of our programmes as well as record their academic achievements through their years in academic life.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Education Committee would not have managed to accomplish all the projects without the dedication of its volunteers. The Education Committee would like to record its appreciation and gratitude for the service of all its dedicated volunteers and members who has assisted us in the performance of our projects.


THE EDUCATION TEAM

Mahmood A Dhala - Chairman
Originally from Mombasa, he is living in London for the last 12 years. Graduated with a BEng (Hons) in Electronic & Electrical Engineering at South Bank University. He is currently working for MCI, and having worked in several IT areas, he currently heads up a team of Network Mediation analysts. He has served the Mombasa jamaat in many ways including being a member of the Ithnasheri Young Men’s Union and setting up the very first Audio Visual Library. He has also served as the Youth representative of the London Jamaat as well as been a madressa teacher. Mahmood is currently a board member of WF-CETAB. He aspires to assist Students of our community through the Student Support Network and other CETAB projects. He is using his position as Chairman of the Education Committee to work closely with CETAB and attain a close rapport with Education Boards of other regional Federations

Shabbar Dhalla – Vice Chairman
Shabbar is originally from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and has been living in the UK since the late 1990’s. He graduated from the University of Reading with an Honours Degree in Law and then pursued his postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice in London. Shabbar is currently working for the Insolvency Service, an Executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry and is specialising in insolvency. Shabbar has served the Dar Es Salaam community in various capacities from running the Debating Society of the Husseini Madressa to being the Editor of the Knowledge Magazine. He is currently on the Student Support Network Management team as their European Co-ordinator and is heading two other projects under the World Federation.  His last major project involved heading a group of young professionals to East Africa organised by The World Federation CETAB Team and Africa Federation.

Hassnain Panjwani
Hasnain was born in 1985 in Chelmsford, Essex, UK and currently lives there. He comes from a family of three - one younger sister and one younger brother. His secondary schooling was at Southend High School for Boys, where he obtained passes in 11 GCSE subjects, and excellent grades in his A-Levels. He currently is undertaking a course at the University of Birmingham in Physics and Space Research. Hasnain participates heavily in the Jamaat in reciting and giving lectures. He has also quickly taken opportunities to serve in Birmingham where he is currently writing syllabi for the Madressa and organising events. He has created and is maintaining the Essex Jamaat website, and is involved with various new ideas like online voting and majalis. Hasnain has also been involved in many CoEJ functions, notably he compiled/produced the Sweden 2003 Camp book which was a great success.

Ali Panju
Ali is 20 years old, currently in his second year of an Engineering degree at the University of Cambridge. He has been involved in community work for a long time, chairing programs at the Islamic Centre, Stanmore, and working on a variety of CoEJ and WF projects. He is a graduate of the Hujjat Saturday Workshop, and is an active member of the WF-CETAB Student Support Network. In his spare time, Ali plays a variety of sports. Over many years, he has participated at the CoEJ annual sports festival, representing Stanmore. He was the secretary of his college student body, and during the holidays he works for a major electronic company as an Electronic Engineer.