Free training to get Muslim women jobs
Muslim mothers are to be offered free job training as part of a new government drive to combat Islamic extremism and get more women into work.
Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly today unveiled the £10 million pilot scheme as part of a wider campaign to help women break into male-dominated jobs.
All schools will be told to overhaul their careers advice to girls to encourage them into the computer, engineering and building industries.
Firms are to be helped to create job shares for senior managers and 80 large companies including Accenture, BAE Systems and BP have signed up as "exemplar employers".
They will be committed to helping women take time off to have children and work f lexibly. A £500,000 fund is being created for organisations specialising in flexible working.
The two-year London scheme will offer A-level standard training to women with few skills, with Muslims a key target of the project.
The scheme is also aimed at ending the isolation felt by some Asian women who speak little English and stay at home to raise their children.
Ms Kelly is also in charge of "community cohesion" and government efforts to marginalise extremists within Muslim areas.
Setting out the Government's response to a scathing report on the state of women in the workplace, she said she wanted to transform the culture in Britain "from the playground to the boardroom".
On a visit to the East End, Ms Kelly said that increasing women's participation in work and enabling them to get better jobs could be worth up to £23 billion a year to the UK economy.
Among the initiatives are new rules for careers officers to ensure no "gender stereotyping" from next April.
From the same date, public-sector employers will have to guarantee equal pay and opportunities for men and women.
Ms Kelly said: "The best of business already understands the benefits that flexible working delivers, but it's time the rest (did).
"This is not about political correctness, this is about improving profit margins.
"Just because a woman decides to trade down her hours doesn't mean she should (have to) trade down her status."
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what's the assumption that muslim mothers are more likely to be involved with terrorism if they're at home raising their children?
The initiative to get women into work is great but i don't see the link between muslim mothers raising their kids and terrorism.
Also why should mothers be forced to work regardless of their faith. If they choose to stay home and raise kids that should be their choice to make. It seems as if the gov is trying to force mothers to abandon their kids against their wishes and get back into work?
Guess what being a mother is a full time job one which is all too often overlooked by ignorant MPs who have nothing better to do with their time.
I'm not against women working and just disagree with the manner in which this gov initiative has been presented. There's no need to mention religious groups it should be open to all women, why target a specific group? Wait don't tell me i need liberating from my kitchen stove and dirty nappies :roll:
Many areas’s in East London are deprived, poor and run down…and consists of large Asian communities.
Language and culture barriers hold many women back….not many women from back home enrol into college or bother to learn English.
When my aunties came here from back home, they suffered from extreme depression and loneliness for the first few years of marriage…
Maybe some women will benefit from the flexible hours and a cure to their isolation etc I see this as a good thing…
However, yash is right when she points out that there is no link between women working and the drive to combat terrorism.
no one is being forced
the option is just there should anyone wish to take it up
some women from back home do find it difficult to integrate into the system like the british born muslims