High school students — not a religious leader from outside — now lead the weekly Muslim prayers at Toronto’s Valley Park Middle School, a change the school hopes will ease objections to the 30-minute service.
Three male students from nearby Marc Garneau Collegiate began leading Friday afternoon prayers earlier this month rather than an imam from the nearby mosque, because some critics had complained about an outside religious leader conducting worship at school during the school day.
In a bid to address those concerns, school officials brainstormed this summer with leaders of the large Muslim community in Thorncliffe Park, near Don Mills Rd. and Overlea Blvd., and agreed that student-run prayers seemed a solution, said Valley Park principal Nick Stefanoff. Many Toronto high schools have long allowed students to run Friday prayers on-site, but Valley Park had allowed an imam, partly because its oldest students are only in Grade 8.
But with Marc Garneau Collegiate across the street, Valley Park turned to their students for help.
“We wanted to address concerns without changing the religious accommodation we provide,” said Stefanoff, whose school started allowing the prayer service three years ago as a way to stop losing as many as 400 students every Friday to worship at a local mosque. Many believe the Qur’an requires followers to pray together at a certain time on Friday afternoon, so Valley Park lets students use the cafeteria after lunch.
“I think it’s a good idea because it cuts down on travel time and it’s safer for younger students to stay at the school,” said Hamzah Khoda, 16, a Grade 11 student who helps the student leaders who conduct the service.
So far the students have led only one service since they resumed for the winter, which drew some 300 Valley Park students. Stefanoff noted they “were actually pretty quiet and orderly.”
Khoda said the prayers begin with a sermon in Arabic from a book provided by the local mosque. He said the student leader wears a robe and female students sit behind their male classmates — a point that drew fire this summer for violating gender equity.
Jim Spyropoulos, superintendent of inclusive schools for the Toronto District School Board, said it is not up to schools to judge the beliefs of a religion, but they are compelled by law to accommodate students’ religious needs, whether it is a Jewish student’s need to stay home to observe high holidays, a Jehovah’s Witness’s objection to standing for the national anthem, or a Muslim student’s need to pray during a school day, unlike other religions whose day of worship falls on weekends.
“These are highly personal matters that are very important to many students, and we’re compelled to live up to our legal duty to accommodate them,” said Spryropoulos. He noted that Christian holidays such as Christmas and Good Friday are enshrined in law as statutory holidays.
Several religious groups have supported accommodating Friday prayers in school, including the Ontario Multifaith Council and the Hindu Federation. Other groups, such as the Canadian Muslim Congress and a group called Canadian Hindu Advocacy have opposed it.
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