It was reported on March 22 that the Birmingham school at the centre of an alleged campaign of ‘Islamisation’ by Muslim radicals, in a self-styled ‘Trojan Horse’ campaign to remove secular heads and install Islamic practices in state schools, is to be placed in ‘special measures’ by the Government’s education watchdog.
This move could see its head teacher and governors removed. Park View, previously rated outstanding by Ofsted, will be downgraded to inadequate, the lowest possible score, in the category of leadership and management, senior education sources said. This enables Ofsted to place the school in special measures, allowing the watchdog, if it wishes, to remove the school’s entire leadership.
Anti-Christian chants
In extensive interviews with the Sunday Telegraph, more than a dozen sources disclosed how children at one supposedly non-religious primary school, Oldknow, were led in anti-Christian chanting by one of their teachers at assembly. One teacher described the atmosphere as like being at a ‘rally’.
The school also conducts weekly Friday prayers, has organised at least three school trips to Mecca subsidised by public funds, and requires all pupils to learn Arabic — almost unheard of at a primary school. It also runs its own madrassah, or religious school. Oldknow’s highly successful non-Muslim head teacher was driven from her post for resisting this ‘Islamising agenda’, the Sunday Telegraph revealed. A senior teacher at Park View had used school facilities to copy Osama bin Laden DVDs and had hosted an extremist preacher at a year-group assembly.
Several sources said schools had repeatedly appealed to Birmingham City Council and the education inspectorate Ofsted for help, but were ignored.
One of the alleged leaders of the Trojan Horse plot, and leader of the trust which runs the schools, Tahir Alam, is an Ofsted inspector and is employed as a ‘specialist in school governance’ by Birmingham City Council. Mr Alam says the plot is a fabrication and denies any involvement.
A dozen officials from the Department for Education were sent in mid-March to three schools run by Alam’s trust, in a move that reflects the deep concern at Whitehall. One teacher said that the government officials were photocopying exercise books.
‘Morale is low and we are struggling with the constant need to justify ourselves when there is nothing to justify’, said a staff member.
The acting head of Oldknow, Mr Akbar, would not confirm or deny any of the claims about his school. Mr Alam did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment. A spokesman for Birmingham council said it was committed to investigating the allegations.
