The Islamic School of Canberra's imam warns the potential closure of the Weston campus may mean young Muslims learn their faith from harmful corners of the internet rather than in a safe, controlled environment.
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Adama Konda, the school's spiritual leader and Islamic studies teacher, has pleaded for the federal government to reinstate the $1.1 million it decided to cut from the school in April. The federal funds represent 80 per cent of the 215-strong school's operational funding.
"This place will give birth to real, good Australian citizens who will know God and know man at the same time, because that is the purpose of having an Islamic school: to make them more responsible towards their religious duties and towards society," Konda says.
"If they don't have these types of places, they may not learn at all or they may learn from the internet and wrong places and end up becoming harmful Muslim members for the community.
"This is going to mean we're losing that type of opportunity and kids are going to learn from anywhere from the internet or overseas or over phones and sometimes they're learning a way, joining different parties overseas.
"But being here, really, it is the best time to make sure this type of thing doesn't happen."
The school lost its federal funds this year for the second time after a review that began in 2012. A federal Education Department spokeswoman says that review found "serious non-compliance issues" relating to financial management and governance.
"During this time, the authority has had ample opportunity to demonstrate compliance, but consistently failed to provide complete and accurate information for the department to assess," the spokeswoman said. "The decision was not taken lightly and followed a long process spanning many years after which the department was left with no alternative."
