THE HAGUE, December 2 (IslamOnline.net) - The two parties of the ruling Dutch coalition are locking horns over banning Islamic education in the European country.

Press reports said the disagreement between the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) and the liberal VVD party could threaten the future of the coalition, which is already under heavy fire for an austerity policy adopted since coming to power in 2003.

Deputy Prime Minister, and VVD Leader, Gerrit Zalm argued in a general party congress in the southeastern town of Eindhoven earlier this week that the government should ban Islamic schools.

He claimed that the Islamic schools were a testament to backwardedness and an obstacle to social integration.

Zalm also told the party delegates that students in these schools were lagging behind compared to colleagues in other schools and that they have problems in mastering the Dutch language as well.

Zalm’s claims drew fire from the CDP leaders, who dismissed the liberals’ proposed ban as a constitutional violation.

Minister of Education, Culture and Science Maria van der Hoeven, a leading CDP member, stressed that the liberals are not fighting Islamic education but chapter 23 of the constitution which allows private education.

Zalem had suggested suspending Chapter 23, claiming the move would serve the national interests which he said are threatened by the Islamic education.

But the Social Democrats, with 43 seats against 28 for liberals in the 150-seat parliament, defended religious education, also including Christian schools, in the consideration that it is part of the private education.

Under Holland’s secular principles, laws should not indiscriminate against religious beliefs, which means that Islamic education could not be cancelled without a similar measure extending to all religious schools in the country.

Jan de Vries, a CDP lawmaker, accused Zalm of confusing between Islamic education in general and the fact that some students in Islamic schools might be having Boor educational standards.

He maintained that Islamic schools, per se, are not necessarily worse than others in the country.

Some 96 per cent of foreigners in the country do not attend religious schools, he indicated, judging Zalm’s concerns as unjustified

The CDP legislator also underlined that mastering the Dutch language is a much bigger problem than to be blamed on Islamic education.

The problem could be found among many students of foreign origin, and should be dealt with more carefully and from a larger perspective, de Vries said.

He cited discrepancy in statements made by VVD leaders with respect to Muslims in the country.

The VVD lawmaker in charge of education committee in the legislature had recently denied that liberals were waging a war against Islam, de Vries said, asserting that Zalm’s remarks reflect a war on Islam.

After the Dutch right achieved a massive victory in general elections, Holland become yet another European country to replace the left with extreme-rightist governments which have anti-immigration stances.