CAIRO, April 17, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – British schools have become increasingly intolerant towards Muslim students and teachers in the wake of the 7/7 attacks with extremist parties and groups exploiting the tensions and spreading a message of racial hatred, delegates at Britain's National Union of Teachers' conference have warned.

"Islamophobia has been increasing in schools since the London bombings of last July," teacher Dennis Gibbons told the conference, The Independent reported on Monday, April 17.

Steve Sinnott, the general secretary of the NUT, said the union had received reports about increased incidents of name-calling against Muslim students.

"There have been other instances of a more extreme nature where people have been attacked or spat at because they may appear to be Muslim," he added.

The union has issued guidelines to all members insisting they should tackle racial incidents in schools and make it clear that there is no excuse for racist behavior.

Weeks after the terrorist attacks, Muslims who lived harmoniously in the country for decades felt under suspicion with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the bombings.

A Guardian/ICM poll published on July 26 last year showed that nearly half a million Muslims of the some 1.8 million minority contemplated leaving Britain due to the increasing harassments and racist attacks.

The government, however, has moved quickly to distance an entire community from the odious work of few.

An opinion poll on February 19 showed that 99 percent of British Muslims believed the July 7 bombers were "wrong" to carry out the atrocity and 91 percent pledged loyalty to Britain.

Glazier said teachers of ethnic minority groups are discriminated against in pay raise.

Delegates warned of discrimination in teachers' salary levels against members of ethnic minority groups.

Jerry Glazier, the union's executive member for the University of Essex, said that, whereas 95.8 percent of all British white teachers were awarded merit rises when they reached the top of the teachers' pay scale, the figures for Bangladeshi, black African and other Asian teachers were 87, 79 and 80.2 percent respectively.

He warned that it would be "unlawful" to discriminate against ethnic minority groups on pay.

The British National Union of Teachers also warned of a rise in support for extremist parties like the British National Party (BNP).

"We note that such fascist and racist organizations have announced their intention to stand in seats across the country in order to profit from such an atmosphere," the union said.

Gibbons said this was "a very worrying trend."

In a recent speech in the northern town of Keighley, BNP leader Nick Griffin described Islam as "wicked, vicious faith."

Experts believe that statements from senior government officials on "Islamic terror" only adds insults to injury.

The latest such warning came from Defense Secretary John Reid who said that Britain was facing a war against what he called "evil Islamist extremists."

An EU official revealed earlier this month that the EU is set to remove derogatory terminology about Islam like "Islamic terrorism" from its new lexicon of public communication to make clear that terrorists are hijacking the religion.

A panel of British Muslims put forward a "roadmap" for the government to fight extremism in the wake of the 7/7 attacks, concluding that foreign policy and the Iraq invasion were key factors in feeding home-grown extremists.

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