MPs want music optional in schools, give proposal

A group of Bahraini legislators are working to make music classes in public and private schools an optional subject and not mandatory.

They said this comes to fulfil the desires of students who wish not to study music, considering that there are different opinions of scholars in the Islamic Sharia Law on whether music is proscribed or permitted in Islam.

The MPs said “this would help parents and students, as some of them are not in favour of studying music and therefore can’t be forced to do so.”

This was suggested last April by MPs Nabeel Al Balooshi, Ali Al Muqla, Abdulhaleem Murad, Nasser Al Qasseer and Adel Binhameed.

Justifying their proposal, the legislators quoted the Bahraini Constitution’s second Article that stipulates, “Islam shall be the religion of the State, Islamic Sharia a main source of legislation, and Arabic the official language.”

The matter was referred to the Council of Representatives’ Services Committee, which studied and discussed it with Education Ministry and the presenters of the proposal during the past eight months.

The Ministry’s feedback wasn’t supportive to the proposal, as it stressed on the side of developing creativity and innovation in students. It stated that the Ministry had adopted several subjects to improve the cultural and creative talents of students, adding that music is one of these subjects.

“The adopted curricula in the country are concerned about developing students’ innovative and creative talents, along with the scientific, cultural and vocational development and reinforcing the sense of nationalism among students,” the Ministry informed the parliamentary panel.

However, the committee agreed to pass the proposal and refer its report about it to the council for voting.