BLACKBURN's Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School, in Shear Brow, could become Lancashire's first Muslim state school if the Government approves plans to bring it under the LEA's control.

CLARE COOK went to find what life is like and how the education of hundreds of Muslim girls could be affected. . .

PUPILS and visitors adhere to strict traditions on arriving at Tauheedul.

Shoes are removed and stacked on shelves. All pupils wear white head scarves, as well as a blue uniform dress, whilst more devout Muslims reach for their black face scarves in the presence of men.

In the lavatories there are wash basins for obligatory "ablutions," a ritual wash before prayer; the school's assembly hall is decorated in Islamic prayer carpet, and rooms used for community evening classes are equipped with low level benches rather than tables and chairs.

But several of these unique traits would be modified if it became the first Muslim state school in Lancashire.

Rules on dress and conduct, presently governed by the adjoining mosque, Masjid-e-Tauheedul Islam, would be slackened. Parents would no longer pay the £650 fees or struggle for oversubscribed places - its 265 population of 11- to 16-year-olds would swell to nearer 700, with pupils taken from across East Lancashire.

The school office would no longer be crammed into a neighbouring terraced house and the school day would change from a six-period, 8.30am to 1.30pm day to a more traditional timetable.

Instead of selecting girls whose parents are members of Masjid-e-Tauheedul, the school would follow the admissions policy set out in legislation and the local education authority's (LEA) Code of Practice. And the school's management, at present five to seven sub-committee members accountable to the mosque's main committee, would change to a professional governing body of 21 members.

At the start of 2203, Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive board permitted the private school to apply to become voluntary-aided, like the town's three church schools. After public consultations, it was approved in January and sent to Whitehall for consideration. Now the decision under the Building Schools for the Future capital programme is expected in May or June.

But the council is already preparing for the go-ahead and is organising a framework of task groups and corporate teams to handle the changeover, possibly by 2006.

Mahfooz Hussain, the council executive member for education and lifelong learning, said it was a time to think of "education for all."

Blackburn with Darwen has one of the highest proportions of denominational Faith Schools in the country, with 60 per cent of primary schools and 33 per cent of secondary schools, compared to a national average of 35 and 10 respectively. And, according to the most recent national census statistics, 20 per cent of the borough's residents are Muslim.

A council report last year stated there was a growing trend for Muslim parents to place children in independent Muslim schools and that the only way to ensure better cohesion was to provide a Muslim school within the LEA family. Among the evidence supporting the bid was a public meeting in which the majority voted 119 to 6 in favour of the move.

Deputy headteacher, Munir Vali, said the plans would allow the school to access more funding and move to a bigger site. "We see there is a big, happy family out there under the LEA and feel a bit left out. We are not part of the bigger picture," he said.

"There would be several advantages for us in terms of resources. We would be able to offer more choice to Muslim families across Blackburn, not just around Sheer Brow. It is just what we need to drive things forward."

The school already maintains high standards, with 70 per cent of students gaining A*-C in GCSEs, and former pupils include doctors, lawyers and teachers.

It was formed in 1968 after the arrival of Gujarati Muslims from India to offer educational, spiritual and moral needs to children thought to be uncatered for by the mainstream system. The mission statement, resembling those in the Church of England or Roman Catholic faiths, says a culture of "educational excellence from within a caring and secure Islamic environment" should be promoted.

Ibrahim Masters, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, has two daughters aged 14 and 15 at Tauheedul. He said: "The feeling among all the parents is one of backing to make a bigger school, not just as the education is so good, but to be big enough to admit girls of a non-Muslim faith to promote community cohesion and mutual understanding."

Mr Vali added: "We do not teach Islam in a vacuum, we are part of one big community. The girls are taught to embrace other religions."

Mr Vali appreciates the need for an "open door" policy. He said lessons were learnt at the Islamic College of Knowledge and Guidance, in Moss Street, when former pupil Sajid Badat was charged with conspiring with shoe bomber Richard Reid.

But some senior councillors have already expressed concerns that an expansion of faith could divide the community, with long-standing teachers at the school also reported to have reservations. Coun Maureen Bateson said when the plans were revealed: "We shouldn't be asking whether there should be a Muslim faith school but whether we should have any faith schools."