U.K. to teach students ‘British values’ after ‘Trojan horse’ scandal reveals Islamists taking over schools | National Post
English schoolchildren will be taught “British values” in the wake of a report that some schools had been taken over by Islamists.
Michael Gove, the education minister, said that in future all of England’s 20,000 elementary and high schools will have to promote British values of tolerance and fairness.
The announcement came in the wake of the “Trojan horse” scandal which found that some schools in the central city of Birmingham had been taken over by Islamists.
Regulator the Office for Standards in Education said Monday it had found a “culture of fear and intimidation” at a minority of the 21 schools it inspected. Five were found to have failed to protect students from extremism.
The review found that one of the schools had been funding a Madrassa from its own budget; at another school only Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia; a third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground, while another school taught in biology that “evolution is not what we believe.”
English schoolchildren will be taught “British values” in the wake of a report that some schools had been taken over by Islamists.
Michael Gove, the education minister, said that in future all of England’s 20,000 elementary and high schools will have to promote British values of tolerance and fairness.
The announcement came in the wake of the “Trojan horse” scandal which found that some schools in the central city of Birmingham had been taken over by Islamists.
Regulator the Office for Standards in Education said Monday it had found a “culture of fear and intimidation” at a minority of the 21 schools it inspected. Five were found to have failed to protect students from extremism.
The review found that one of the schools had been funding a Madrassa from its own budget; at another school only Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia; a third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground, while another school taught in biology that “evolution is not what we believe.”
Chief schools inspector Michael Wilshaw said there was evidence of an “organized campaign to target certain schools” by some members of their governing bodies.
Inspectors said members of governing boards had promoted a “narrow faith-based ideology” at some schools, whose students were overwhelmingly from Muslim backgrounds. One school attempted to ban mixed-sex swimming lessons; at another, music lessons were dropped because they were considered un-Islamic, and at a third, board members vetted the script for a nativity play and told staff they could not use a doll to represent the baby Jesus.
“Staff and some head teachers variously described feeling ‘intimidated,’ ‘undermined’ or ‘bullied’ by governors, and sometimes by senior staff, into making changes they did not support,” Mr. Wilshaw said.
Park View Educational Trust, which runs three of the criticized schools, rejected the inspectors’ verdict and said it would launch a legal challenge. Vice chairman David Hughes said the inspectors “came to our schools looking for extremism” but had not found any.
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was concerned that the inspectors were conflating religious belief and extremism.
English schoolchildren will be taught “British values” in the wake of a report that some schools had been taken over by Islamists.
Michael Gove, the education minister, said that in future all of England’s 20,000 elementary and high schools will have to promote British values of tolerance and fairness.
The announcement came in the wake of the “Trojan horse” scandal which found that some schools in the central city of Birmingham had been taken over by Islamists.
Regulator the Office for Standards in Education said Monday it had found a “culture of fear and intimidation” at a minority of the 21 schools it inspected. Five were found to have failed to protect students from extremism.
The review found that one of the schools had been funding a Madrassa from its own budget; at another school only Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia; a third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground, while another school taught in biology that “evolution is not what we believe.”
English schoolchildren will be taught “British values” in the wake of a report that some schools had been taken over by Islamists.
Michael Gove, the education minister, said that in future all of England’s 20,000 elementary and high schools will have to promote British values of tolerance and fairness.
The announcement came in the wake of the “Trojan horse” scandal which found that some schools in the central city of Birmingham had been taken over by Islamists.
Regulator the Office for Standards in Education said Monday it had found a “culture of fear and intimidation” at a minority of the 21 schools it inspected. Five were found to have failed to protect students from extremism.
The review found that one of the schools had been funding a Madrassa from its own budget; at another school only Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia; a third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground, while another school taught in biology that “evolution is not what we believe.”
Chief schools inspector Michael Wilshaw said there was evidence of an “organized campaign to target certain schools” by some members of their governing bodies.
Inspectors said members of governing boards had promoted a “narrow faith-based ideology” at some schools, whose students were overwhelmingly from Muslim backgrounds. One school attempted to ban mixed-sex swimming lessons; at another, music lessons were dropped because they were considered un-Islamic, and at a third, board members vetted the script for a nativity play and told staff they could not use a doll to represent the baby Jesus.
“Staff and some head teachers variously described feeling ‘intimidated,’ ‘undermined’ or ‘bullied’ by governors, and sometimes by senior staff, into making changes they did not support,” Mr. Wilshaw said.
Park View Educational Trust, which runs three of the criticized schools, rejected the inspectors’ verdict and said it would launch a legal challenge. Vice chairman David Hughes said the inspectors “came to our schools looking for extremism” but had not found any.
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was concerned that the inspectors were conflating religious belief and extremism.
