Sharia student loans will be set up for the first time in Britain as part of a drive to boost the number of young Muslims applying to university.
The Government confirmed on Monday that a new ‘halal’ finance model will be introduced which does not conflict with the rules of Islam.
Muslims are forbidden from taking out loans on which they would be charged interest, and campaigners say this is putting some youngsters off going to university
In a white paper published yesterday, the government vowed to tackle the issue by creating a so-called ‘Takaful’ model, which is Sharia-compliant.
Ministers are looking to include it in legislation imminently and hope it will encourage more Muslim youngsters to enter higher education.
The document said: ‘We will introduce an alternative finance system to support the participation of students who, for religious reasons, might feel unable to take on interest-bearing loans.
‘We have heard that that some students will not access higher education in these circumstances, some will access higher education and use loans but will be troubled by their situation, and others will restrict their choice of course or institution to try to minimise the sums involved. [Daily Mail] Read more
