Birmingham, now Tower Hamlets: Muslim schools under investigation for extremism

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...lassrooms.html

Independent Muslim schools in London to face new 'Trojan Horse' inquiry amid claims extremists are promoting hardline views in classroom

- Schools in Tower Hamlets, east London, are among alleged extremist hubs
- Inquiries into independent Muslim schools in the area in 'early stages'
- The borough has one of the strongest Muslim communities in the capital
- A Tower Hamlets address was searched by anti-terror police this week
- Five schools in Birmingham placed in special measures earlier this year
- Islamic extremists had been promoting fundamentalist material
- Department of Education said it would consider 'any evidence' of extremism

Independent Muslim schools in London are being investigated amid fears that hardline Islamic extremism is being promoted among pupils and staff,

As many as a dozen private schools in Tower Hamlets, east London, are being looked into by officials over reports that fundamentalism is being spread, MailOnline can reveal.

A Whitehall source said while investigations are in 'their very early stages', there is concern within the Department of Education over a number of fee-paying Muslim schools in the borough which has one of the strongest Muslim communities in the capital.

Earlier this week an address in the area was searched as part of an ongoing police effort to crack down on terror.

Eleven men were arrested across the capital and in Stoke-on-Trent as part of the Scotland Yard effort.

It comes as Ofsted prepares to publish the findings of 40 snap inspections across the country, launched amid concerns that some schools were not offering a broad enough curriculum.

Jewish, Christian and Islamic schools were among those visited in Luton, Bradford, London and Manchester

Former terror chief Peter Clarke told ministers earlier this month it was likely allegations of extremist infiltration at the schools involved in the Trojan Horse scandal could be applied to other institutions across the country.

Golden Hillock School, Nansen Primary School, Park View School, Oldknow Academy and Saltley School - which are all run by the Park View Educational Trust - were placed in special measures following complaints.

Giving evidence to the Commons education select committee, he said it was incumbent on the government to investigate the situation.

'I'm not a great believer in coincidence and I would find it very surprising if this was only happening in the few schools that we had the time and opportunity to look at in east Birmingham,' Mr Clarke told the cross-party group of MPs.

'Some of the people who were involved in promulgating these techniques of gaining control and influence in schools have had national roles in various educational bodies and I know have lectured and taken part in conferences in other cities.'

Earlier this month an inquiry into the Birmingham school heard a 'violent, extremist' video was shown in the classroom.

Ian Kershaw, a former head teacher, told the Birmingham City Council that examples of 'bad behaviour' in the school included the film, which was 'completely inappropriate to young people'.

He described this film as a 'violent, extremist video', and when committee chairman Graham Stuart asked if it was 'jihadist, violent, extremist promotional video', Mr Kershaw indicated that it was.

At least a dozen independent Muslim schools in Tower Hamlets, east London (pictured), are facing investigations into claims Islamic extremists are pushing their hardline views through the classroom

Unlike the 'Trojan Horse' scandal which saw secular schools in Birmingham being infiltrated by extremists, the affected institutions in Tower Hamlets are all thought to be Muslim.

Five schools were placed in special measures in Birmingham earlier this year after evidence suggested the views of Islamic extremists were being pushed upon pupils and staff.

The Department of Education would not confirm whether Tower Hamlets was specifically at risk, but said it would consider 'any evidence' brought forward.

'All schools are subject to a tough inspection regime and we have been clear we will not hesitate to take firm and swift action if pupils are being let down or placed at risk.

'Keeping our children safe, and ensuring our schools prepare them for life in modern Britain, could not be more important.'

How shocking.......................................... .......................................

Birmingham was 'only an isolated case' righttttttt, just like child abuse in Rotherham followed on from Rochdale and others.

A selection of the top-rated public comments:

MarkK, Northampton, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago

Why do people keep going on about schools? It's not just schools, it is happening in Islamic centres up and down the country.

Old Chap, Caribbean, Grenada, 3 hours ago

Our PM and government can throw bombs at extremists overseas but can't deal with the root cause here at home in case they may be seen as racist. There is a weakness amongst the political class which I am hoping that UKIP can change.

ade, bristol, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago

Brum was the tip of the Iceberg - ultra-soft lefties have decimated our culture and way of life!

observing, from a former colony, Canada, 5 hours ago

It's hard to fathom the UK enabling its own downfall in so many ways. Apparently the writ of government does not extend to a growing number of neighborhoods and towns. And what about all those girls in Rotherham?

[The Don]

Hopefully this will pave way for the closure of faith schools entirely in the UK. Learning should not be mixed with religion.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Hopefully this will pave way for the closure of faith schools entirely in the UK. Learning should not be mixed with religion.

Why should good performing Christian and Jewish schools be closed due to what is going on in Islamic schools?

[Lewis]

Hopefully this will pave way for the closure of faith schools entirely in the UK. Learning should not be mixed with religion.

I agree completely with this, education and religion should certainly be completely separate things. That doesn't just go for Islamic schools, but the likes of Christianity ones too.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I agree completely with this, education and religion should certainly be completely separate things.

Then send your children to a secular state school.

[The Don]

Why should good performing Christian and Jewish schools be closed due to what is going on in Islamic schools?

Because it is not the job of publicly funded schools to instil religious beliefs in children.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Because it is not the job of publicly funded schools to instil religious beliefs in children.

Yes it is, by law. The faith of this nation is the Church of England.

[The Don]

Yes it is, by law. The faith of this nation is the Church of England.

Point me to the law which states that it's the job of schools to instil religious beliefs in children. By your stupid logic all faith schools except christian ones would be banned (if that were the law, which it isn't). You make stuff up as you go along, it's hilarious to watch though.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Point me to the law which states that it's the job of schools to instil religious beliefs in children. By your stupid logic all faith schools except christian ones would be banned (if that were the law, which it isn't). You make stuff up as you go along, it's hilarious to watch though.

1944 Education Act mandates broadly Christian prayer in state schools.

I make it up as I go along? nope.

In England and Wales, the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 states that all pupils in state schools must take part in a daily act of collective worship, unless their parents request that they be excused from attending. The majority of these acts of collective worship are required to be "wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character", with two exceptions:

- Religious schools, which should provide worship appropriate to the school's religion (although most religious schools in the UK are Christian.)
- Schools where the Local Education Authority's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education has determined that Christian worship would not be appropriate for part or all of the school.

[The Don]

1944 Education Act mandates broadly Christian prayer in state schools.

I make it up as I go along? nope.

And clearly the vast majority of teachers and those in charge of running schools disagree with it, and you, since most schools are ignoring those archaic laws.That is also why there are LOADS of polls where the majority believe that state funded schools should be secular and not faith based. Clearly I’m not alone in my opinion.

Either way, you’ve completely missed the point of my “it is not the job of schools to instill religious beliefs in children”. I wasn’t talking about the legality of it, I’m talking about what the purpose of education is in a general sense and I do not believe that there is place for faith schools in a modern society, especially with the marked increase in Atheism. If you wish to instill religious belief in your child take them to a church or whatever during your own time, but education should be separate from religion much the same as the state should be.