Yusuf Islam joins Home Office group
The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is to sit on a Home Office working group set up to tackle extremism following the London terrorist attacks.
Yusuf Islam, 57, has agreed to provide advice to senior government ministers and officials.
Yusuf has been enlisted to share his expertise on education issues together with politicians, CRE and Ofsted representatives and academics from Cambridge and Birmingham University.
Yusuf converted to Islam in the 1970s and has supported three Islamic schools in the borough of Brent.
The schools are Islamia primary and Islamia secondary girls, in Salusbury Road, Kilburn, and Brondesbury College for Boys in The Avenue, Brondesbury Park.
Islamia primary is said to have become the first UK school to achieve state funding in 1998, while the majority of pupils at the other two reaped five or more A* to Cs at GCSE level in the last few years.
On his website, Yusuf set out his reasons for backing the schools, describing education as 'a fundamental human right'.
"Education has always been historically linked to Islam and the development of Muslim civilisation," he said.
"The ever increasing challenges created by the impact of global communications and the new modes of study only highlight further the pressing need for a positive and dynamic approach to the human quest for knowledge."
The Home Office said it had set up seven informal working groups to look at issues as varied as security and policing and the role of mosques and education.
The groups are to start functioning in mid-September and will originally operate for a period of six weeks.
The Home Office said that Yusuf's help had been enlisted because of his involvement with faith schools for the last two decades.
A spokesman said: "Members of the working groups have been invited to participate because of their expertise and experience, and in some cases, to provide an international perspective."
Yusuf was reportedly denied entry to the US on security grounds in September last year.
john.phillips@archant.co.uk
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