Jihadi John's School Adds Anti-Extremism To Curriculum

Jihadi John's School Adds Anti-Extremism To Curriculum

The school of the British terrorist known as Jihadi John will be among the first in the UK to introduce pupils to a new project aimed at preventing extremism.

Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, in north London, was attended by a young Mohammed Emwazi, who went on to become the black-clad militant seen in Islamic State (IS) beheading videos.

Kuwait-born Emwazi, who was killed in a US air strike last November, was described by his former headteacher as a "hard-working aspirational young man".

Now the school will host the launch of a classroom-based programme that draws on testimony from former extremists and survivors of extremism.

It will introduce the programme, which first launched in Canada last year, as part of its curriculum from September.

Called Extreme Dialogue, the project includes six hours of free resources for teachers to "build resilience" in pupils and help schools fulfil statutory duties under the Government's Prevent strategy.

Students between 14 and 18 will be shown two short films featuring Billy McCurrie, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) whose father was killed by the IRA, and Adam Deen, a former member of the banned Islamist group, Al-Muhajiroun.

Mr Deen said: "By taking the time to truly understand that extremism is a process, then and only then we can learn to undo the process and inoculate future generations."

The programme has been part-funded by the European Union and developed by anti-extremist organisations including London-based think-tank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

Jonathan Birdwell, ISD's head of policy and research, said: "It is vital that we equip young people with the critical skills to challenge extremism for themselves.

"Teachers can be nervous about discussing this issue, so these resources can give them the confidence to address extremism and radicalisation in the classroom".

Emwazi shocked the world when he appeared in a video in August 2014 in which he condemned the West and appeared to behead US journalist James Foley.

He emerged again in a number of other videos released by IS, including those in which American reporter Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were murdered.

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