Inadequate Christian schools named and shamed; inadequate Muslim school.. censored

Sep 29, 2016 by

by Archbishop Cranmer:

When the Durham Free School and Grindon Hall Christian School were excoriated by Ofsted last year for a raft of educational deficiencies (not least of which was failing to promote ‘British values’ by not teaching what Muslims believe and what lesbians do), they were very publicly named and shamed for their ignorance, bigotry and discriminatory views. Actually, it was apparently the ignorance of just a few individual pupils, but that didn’t matter to Ofsted. As one inspector concluded: “Leaders are failing to prepare students for life in modern Britain. Some students hold discriminatory views of other people who have different faiths, values or beliefs from themselves.” Such intolerance is absolutely intolerable, so these Christian schools were placed in special measures and closed down or taken over. You simply can’t have schools with a Christian religious ethos propagating un-British values as mediated and determined by Ofsted. This is the new orthodoxy.

When Muslim School X (it may not be named) is deemed to be inadequate, the Ofsted report must be quashed and the school shielded from public shame. A High Court judge (no less) has determined that censorship is justified on the grounds that disclosure is likely “to generate a media storm and tensions and fears for parents and the local community”.

The deficiencies in this case are an allegedly inadequate sex-segregation policy which makes girls feel inferior. It may or may not be the case that girls are forced to sit at the back of the class and may only consider careers in medicine and motherhood: we simply can’t know on what basis the judgment has been made. All that we have is:

But in a court hearing earlier this week, an Ofsted inspector told the court that the school’s own pupils had criticised its gender segregation policy. He said they felt it ‘was having a negative effect on being prepared for life in modern Britain’. The Islamic voluntary-aided School X is for ages four to 16 and separates boys and girls from age ten, for all lessons, lunchtimes, clubs and trips.

The inference is that of unlawful (‘un-British’) sex discrimination; the denial of dignity and equality. As with the Christian schools, the Ofsted judgment appears to be based on comments made by pupils. Muslim School X is perfectly entitled to appeal Ofsted’s inspection findings (natural justice requires such provision, and Ofsted has an established complaints procedure), but this clearly isn’t acceptable to the headteacher and governing body, for whom secrecy and suppression are the preferred approach.

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